By Lucy Corkhill
11th October 2016
Many women don’t speak of their loss, but carry their grief throughout their lives. Baby Loss Awareness Week from 9-15 October is a chance to remember all those families and their lost babies. On 15th October, people are invited to light a candle at 7pm and leave it burning for at least an hour.
The idea is to create a ‘Wave of Light’ around the world in remembrance of babies who lit up our lives for a short time. You might like to do it alone, with friends or family, or in a community group. If you attend a yoga or meditation group, you could ask members to join in this global event to raise awareness of a subject that is still taboo amongst many.
If you know of someone who has lost a baby, why not send a card to say you’re thinking of them on this day. Just acknowledging a person’s loss can help assuage the feelings of isolation in grief. Because babies who die during pregnancy, birth or just after, have been in their families’ lives for a shorter time, there is the mistaken assumption that a woman and her family will just move on, resulting in repressed grief and a sense that their loss is less significant than other deaths. But anyone who has children knows the amount of love, energy, and expectation a pregnancy involves, and that we are deeply connected to our babies from the moment they are conceived, consciously or unconsciously. So reach out to someone, or let someone reach out to you this Baby Loss Awareness Day and light a candle to remember and celebrate precious lives.
