Say My Baby's Name; Pregnancy After Loss

Client: Abigail's Footsteps

Additional credits: Inner Eye Productions

Abigail's Footsteps commissioned Say My Baby’s Name; Pregnancy After Loss, a sequel to the ground breaking Deafening Silence, forming part of the Abigail’s Angels Training programme, for midwives and health professionals around the world, to better understand how to support bereaved parents and families. The film focuses on the experience of a mother having her next child, following the death of her previous baby. The new film aims to build on the success of the first training film and help midwives to reflect on their interactions with parents returning for their next child following a bereavement.

The film is principally aimed at creating a platform for discussion and debate on the issue for midwives across the country. The hope is it will prompt self-reflection and clarity on the way systems and processes impact on the parents. In addition to this it is hoped it will generally break the silence around still birth and neonatal death in the public consciousness. Say My Baby’s Name was based on a series of interviews with parents surrounding the issues raised in the film. The main insight was parents often felt their child, lost through still birth or neonatal death, is often forgotten by professionals and family. The film was launched at the beginning of Baby Loss Awareness Week in October, at a special screening at the Curzon, Soho. This received considerable publicity, with features on the local BBC and ITV news. In addition to this, it received coverage in various publications including the Independent.