East Midlands buildings light up to highlight baby loss

Newark Castle is one of several buildings showing support for the campaign

Buildings and landmarks have been lit up pink and blue to highlight the issue of baby bereavement.

A University of Leicester building, Newark Castle and Bassetlaw Hospital have joined a national campaign to support Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Organisers said it was an opportunity for bereaved families to commemorate the lives of babies who died during pregnancy, birth or in infancy.

It also encourages people to share ways of managing the grief of losing a baby.

University of Leicester's George Davies Centre researches baby deaths in the UK to help avoid preventable deaths

A third-year midwifery student at the University of Leicester led a campaign to light up the George Davies Centre, which analyses baby deaths in the UK to help avoid preventable deaths, for the week, which runs from 9 to 15 October.

Celia Kelly said: "Too many women still face grief alone, unable to tell people what has happened to them, and all too often this pain is glossed over if she becomes pregnant again.

"But the grief of losing a child is something that never leaves a family.

"Nationally, we need to make the general population more aware of this to break the stigma and taboo around the issue."

Bassetlaw Hospital, in Worksop, Nottinghamshire, has also been lit up

According to Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Charity (SANDS), one in four pregnancies end in miscarriage, with 14 babies stillborn or dying in the first few weeks of life every day in the UK.

Coping after loss

Anthony Hubbard's son Charlie was stillborn at Royal Derby Hospital in 2019.

"We were hit with the words we most feared, 'I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat,'" he said.

"The world around us disappeared in an instant, we sobbed and sobbed for our little boy, pleading with the world for him to be OK."

Mr Hubbard, from Castle Donington, Leicestershire, said he and his partner share their story with other bereaved families to cope with their loss.

"My boy lives on in every conversation I have, every positive change I help to create and every person I can help," he said.

Postbox toppers to support the cause have been placed across Nottinghamshire

As part of the awareness week, Nottinghamshire SANDS has placed knitted toppers, made by volunteers, on postboxes around the county.

They are on display in Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Mansfield and Chilwell as well as in Kings Mill Hospital and Queen's Medical Centre.