the hats knitted lovingly for twins that were never worn. the tiny teddy which nestled next to a tiny baby, born silent. the beautiful shoes bought for stillborn babyjenny on what would have been her second birthday. this still parents exhibition here at manchester s whitworth gallery is the first of its kind, aimed at breaking some of that silence that still surrounds baby and pregnancy loss all around the world. even the word itself can be problematic. miscarriage, to miscarry, is defined as. or.
with things like this beautiful exhibition here in manchester. but after my losses, it struck me, given how physically and mentally painful miscarriage can be, why are we not talking about it more? why do we not know more about what happens? my name is professor siobhan quenby. my name is natasha necati. rukhsana. i ve spent the last few months looking into how pregnancy loss impacts families all around the world and how they can be better supported, why the colour of our skin can affect our chances of having a healthy pregnancy. i just do t think we re being listened to and heard in the spaces. do you think it is about the colour of your skin? all: absolutely. and heard from one group often left out of the conversation. my wife was near to death. i had a cry sitting on the toilet, because that was the only time i could get to be alone.
birth to her son, henry. i believe it changed my whole outlook in life. this person i was when i went into the hospital isn t the same person that walked back out. i got diagnosed with post traumatic stress disorder and anxiety. data on miscarriage and its impact is vague, as losses are not officially counted in most countries, and it s still seen as taboo in many parts of the world, so millions of women end up suffering in silence. translation: i was very scared. one miscarriage is ok but then second, third and after the last one i lost all hope. i couldn t sleep. i would lay awake and pray to allah to make everything ok. i had lost something that i wanted really badly, - so i remember one night it was raining outside - and i wasjust in my bedroom, and then the rain just startedl coming and then from i nowhere i started crying, and i cried and i cried.
increasingly finding though is that black and asian women are at higher risk of miscarriage black women in particular are 40% more likely to suffer a loss than white women, according to one recent study. how and why is this happening? i wanted to find out, so i ve been speaking to women in the us and in the uk, where most of the research on this is under way. isabel and paulson are expecting their baby boy next month. can you see your baby s face? very emotional. i m just trying to contain myself now. they lost their previous pregnancy at four months last march. this baby is doing well and they re being supported by staff at this specialist recurrent miscarriage clinic in coventry, but the care they received during their previous pregnancy and subsequent miscarriage has left isabel scarred for life. the day that we were sure there was something wrong,
to be honest, i didn t have much support at all. - the hardest part, i think, is people wanted to - dismiss it, you know. thank you so much. for raul, liam, matt and all those speaking out, the aim is to help others who might be secretly struggling. many people choose not to talk about their losses, but it s about having the opportunity to if and when needed. what s the worst that can happen? we can t make anyone feel worse about what they ve gone through, but actually, we can make a lot of people feel a little bit more at ease. yes, baby loss doesn t discriminant, doesn t care what colour you are, how much you earn, how old you are, it touches everyone on every continent. all the dads we ve spoken to have gone on to have healthy babies, and they all say speaking out has helped them to move forward. it s not the case for everyone, but most people who suffer a miscarriage will go on to have a healthy pregnancy.