Jenni Thomas OBE

In our final episode of Series 5, the three of us speak about inherited grief and the impact this has on our subsequent children. We talk about how we raise our loving children in the shadow of grief, and the conversations that come up in daily life.

We are joined by author Ellie Harley-Jones who speaks to us about her baby boy Theo, who she lost to stillbirth in March 2021.  Ellie has channelled her grief for Theo by writing and illustrating 'Theo Bear - A Midnight Wish', a beautiful and heartfelt story which is lovely to read to children, and is also a comfort for bereaved parents. We also speak about how healing and cathartic it has been for Ellie to write in Theo's name.

For Black Baby Loss Awarness Week, we are joined by Rachel Burrell and Gina Reeves, founders of the charity Ebony Bonds, a bereavement charity dedicated to providing support for black bereaved families . We speak about Rachel and Gina's personal experiences of baby loss - Rachel tragically lost her baby Rhema to stillbirth and Gina tragically lost her baby boy Dante to stillbirth. We also speak about the disparities and systemic inequalities of maternity care for black and mixed heritage families, and what is needed to make meaningful change. For more information on Ebony Bonds please visit: https://www.ebonybonds.org.uk/  You can follow them on instagram here: https://www.instagram.com/ebonybondsupport 

In this episode we talk to Professor Alex Heazell, consultant obstetrician and Clinical Director of The Tommy’s Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre in Manchester. We speak about Professor Heazell's pioneering research projects which focusses on the causes and prevention of stillbirth, and his visions for the future. For more information on his work at Tommy's, please visit: https://www.tommys.org/ 

To launch our new series, it is a privelege for us to speak to Jenni Thomas OBE, who is widely recognised as a leading figure and pioneer in bereavement support for families grieving the death of a child and for educating health professionals on how best to support families. We speak to Jenni about her experience in supporting bereaved families over the last 60 years, and her newly published book 'After a Child Dies, Parent’s Grief'.

We interview Elle about her experience of secondary infertility, navigating IVF and miscarriages, along with the challenges this brings whilst also grieving the loss of her baby boy Teddy. Falling pregnant is not easy and the IVF journey is physically and emotionally draining with no guarantee of a happy ending. Elle is passionate about raising awareness about this topic and has written about it in her blog posts, news articles, and in her acclaimed book A Bump In The Road.

We speak to Jess Clasby-Monk from The Legacy of Leo about the loss of her, and her wife Nat’s, baby boy, Leo, who they tragically lost to stillbirth in 2016. Jess speaks to us about the wonderful work she does to raise awareness and encourage conversations around baby loss through her blog and Baby Loss Hour, a weekly conversation on Instagram, which aims to bring the baby loss community together and provide a safe space for difficult conversations. Jess also shares some of the work she has done to raise the voices of others in the LGBTQ+ community who have experienced loss.

Something that is not spoken about enough is the trauma and lasting impact that baby loss has on our lives. Baby Loss is widely considered as the most traumatic loss that anyone can go through. In this conversation, we explore trauma responses, how this impacts each of us in different ways and the coping mechanisms we have found helpful in our grief. We hope that some of these will resonate with others, or be helpful to those who might need them.

Laura Burdett lost her first born son, Findlay, in 2015.  She was faced with an unimaginable health diagnosis in her pregnancy which deemed Findlay “Incompatible with life”, something that she and her husband had to navigate together at the time, leading to her baby boy being born following a Termination for Medical reasons (TFMR).  Laura openly talks to us about what that journey into motherhood looked like for her, and the feelings that resulted after losing Findlay in that way. 

We are back for a new series! For our first episode, we speak to Ryan Jackson, Co-Founder and CEO of The Lily Mae Foundation and The Still Parents podcast. Ryan speaks to us about navigating his grief following the loss of his baby girl Lily Mae to stillbirth, and how this inspired him to set up the charity, with his wife Amy. Ryan shares his grief from a dad’s perspective and explains how his own podcast, hosted with other bereaved dads, is helping to normalise the conversation around baby loss.