Thank you for your support and kindness...

I have been blown away by all the messages of support and kindness that have been sent to me in the days since Daisy's death.  It is so touching that you have taken the time to leave comments here on my blog, to send messages via Twitter and to send emails to me.  I'd love to be able to reply to each one of you individually.  It means a lot to me that you have passed on your condolences at such a heartbreaking time for us.  Thank you.

For all of the readers of my blog who have recently visited from Brazil - muito obrigado.  I don't speak Portuguese but I translated each of your comments so I could read them.  Your heartfelt messages of kindness were so nice to read and meant a lot to me.

When Daisy died, we felt so alone.  We felt that no-one understood what we were going through; we didn't know anyone, hadn't heard of anyone, who had been affected by the loss of a baby.  Now, through the comments and messages we have received, I know that we are not alone.  It is heartbreaking to read that so many other families have experienced similar loss in their lives.

I was reading on the Sands (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity) website - http://www.uk-sands.org/ - that 17 babies are stillborn or die shortly after birth every day in the UK.  Every day.  I was astounded.  Until our recent experience I had no idea that stillbirth and neonatal loss figures were so high.  In the UK alone, 17 families will have their lives shattered in the same way as we have - every single day.  This shocked me to the core.  That's the loss of 6,500 babies every year in the UK.  And these heartbreaking figures don't take into account the number of babies who are lost through miscarriage.
Did you know that stillbirth in the UK is 10 times more common than cot death?  I couldn't believe it either.  I was unaware that so many babies still died in our modern times. 

Sands have launched a campaign to raise awareness of this devastating loss called the Why 17? campaign.  You can read more about this campaign here - http://www.why17.org/.  Sands are working hard to raise awareness of stillbirth and neonatal loss - here's a summary of the Campaign Aims from the website:

Through the Why17? campaign all of us here at Sands hope to raise awareness of the issues surrounding baby loss and to initiate a public debate about stillbirth and neonatal death. We will be urging all those interested parties to join with us to develop a national strategy to reduce the rates of baby loss.

What we at Sands want to see:

• Increased public awareness of how many stillbirths and neonatal deaths there are in the UK.
• Recognition that stillbirth and neonatal death is a national problem and not just one of those things.
• A national strategy to reduce the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in the UK.
• Funding for more research to improve understanding of why stillbirths and neonatal deaths happen and to identify high risk pregnancies and develop effective interventions.

Through the Why17? campaign, we are working with government and health bodies to create a national strategy for reducing the number of stillbirths and neonatal deaths in the UK.

Thank you for sharing your stories of your own baby losses, whether it be through miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal loss.  Or indeed loss of a baby or child at any age.  It has given me comfort that we are not alone in this.  Many of you have suggested links to helpful and supportive websites which may be of use to other families going through a similar pain and loss.  If you have found any sites on your travels that you found useful and would like to share them, please leave a comment below and I will compile a "Links" page on the menu above, keeping everything together.  I haven't had the time to look through all your suggestions as yet but from my own viewpoint I have found other blogs written by bereaved parents to be supportive at this devastating time.

Best Wishes
Debbie