Council commemorates Baby Loss Awareness Week with ribbon display

Stoke-on-Trent City Council is working with the STILL support group to commemorate Baby Loss Awareness Week (9-15 October) with a ribbon display outside the Civic Centre, Stoke.

Baby Loss Awareness Week, led by SANDS, is now in its 22nd year and raises awareness of pregnancy and baby loss, which affects around 1 in 4 pregnancies. It’s an opportunity to bring people together as a community and give anyone touched by pregnancy and baby loss a safe and supportive space to share their experiences and feel that they are not alone.

It also highlights the importance of work by health professionals and services to improve pregnancy and birth outcomes. Together, we can all take steps to help raise awareness and end preventable pregnancy and baby loss.

Councillor Sarah Hill, cabinet member for children’s services said: “I’d like to offer my condolences to anyone who is dealing with pregnancy or baby loss. It’s something that we don’t talk about enough and it means that sometimes people can feel they are suffering alone. That’s why the work of STILL support group and displays like this are so important. It gives families in the city a way to commemorate their babies and come together to offer support.”

Samantha Jackson from STILL said: “The parents from the STILL support group have come together for the second year to put the display together to honour all of our children who are no longer here. This year, we have added over 100 names for the display that went up on Sunday.

“A huge thank you to Councillor Shaun Pender for liaising with the city council to gain permission and coming along with his wife to help. Also, to our anonymous donor who this year paid for the ribbons and lights. To the UHNM bereavement midwifes and most importantly to all the parents who helped, shared their babies’ names and have been to see it.”

Pregnancy and baby loss can be extremely difficult to talk about but residents can help by:

• Talking to friends and family about Baby Loss Awareness Week,

• Sharing information about how people can get involved: https://babyloss-awareness.org/get-involved/

• Joining the #WaveOfLight by lighting a candle at 7pm on Tuesday 15 October

• Sharing information on support available for all those affected

The ribbons will be on display until Sunday 20 October.

To support parents and families who experience pregnancy or baby loss, the Staffordshire and Stoke-on-Trent Maternity and Neonatal Voices Partnership (MNVP) link in with families that have used local maternity and/or neonatal services, to listen to their stories and collect feedback on their experiences – this is then used to celebrate great care and drive forward changes and improvements to services. 

Bereaved parents and families who would like to share an experience or find out more about the MNVP can email sasot.mnvp@nhs.net or complete the MNVP online feedback survey at https://nhs.welcomesyourfeedback.net/s/6ejm16

Anyone who is struggling or needs support can access a range of services at https://babyloss-awareness.org/support/ or contact:

• The Dove Service: https://thedoveservice.org.uk/
• 4 Louis:  https://4louis.co.uk/
• A Child of Mine: https://achildofmine.org.uk/
• Aching Arms: https://www.achingarms.co.uk/