Awareness

Who ever thought that you would see the word Stillbirth on a giant billboard let alone 16!

This past week saw the first of our billboard advertising commence, thanks to the generosity of Goa Billboards in Queensland. We were overwhelmed with the support shown by Goa and it’s team, definitely a leader in community support.

It’s not uncommon for people to say to me that they didn’t know anyone that had been affected by Stillbirth, that was, until Tim and I started our awareness campaign a few years ago now. Some of these same people are now coming to me and telling me stories of friends and even family members that they never knew about, only because it was never spoken about. That is one of our goals, to break the silence.

It took many years for me to learn to answer the question “So you only have the one child?” At first it caught me off guard as it was almost asked as a statement not question, and I use to mumble yes or something to that effect. Other times I didn’t want to go into it with a stranger, or make others feel uncomfortable with what my answer would be.

It was a trip to Bali one year that helped me realise that it is ok to tell people about your daughter who was born without breath, and it is not my problem if that makes the questioner uncomfortable, as they asked the question. It was a very large step in my journey of mothering a child that was not here.

Obviously, my run is to raise funds for research into reducing stillbirth, and for that to happen we need greater awareness in our communities. We need to enable those affected to talk about their child if they want to. We need society to understand this is a real health issue, that doesn’t get the attention it deserves. Over 2000 babies a year are being born without breath, that do not have to die.

So, if you reside in the southeast of QLD keep an eye out for one of our billboards and be sure to let your family and friends know.

Thanks for reading x