13/10/2026
Baby Loss Awareness Week 🩷💙
I talk about Poppy a lot. I speak her name in meetings, in lecture theatres, in hospitals, in interviews. I tell her story and I talk about the hope that has grown from the very worst thing that has ever happened to us.
But sometimes I wonder whether, because I can stand up and talk about her, people might think that somehow means I have learnt how to live comfortably with losing her.
I haven’t. I ache for my daughter. I ache for the little girl I should be watching grow up. For the milestones we should be celebrating. For the ordinary, mundane pieces of life that we never got to have.
And some days, even while doing work that I love and believe in with every part of me, the grief still completely floors me.
There are days when I will stand in the shower and sob — silently, painfully — because I miss her so desperately and there is absolutely nothing I can do to change the fact that she isn’t here. Grief doesn’t disappear because something positive grows around it.
Hope and heartbreak can exist in exactly the same place. Poppy’s Promise is part of that hope for me.
Every time someone says her name, every time somebody hears her story, every time a healthcare professional stops and thinks differently because of her, every time a patient feels a little more heard, acknowledged or cared for because of something that carries her name — Poppy matters. Her life continues to make a difference.
And I think that is something so many bereaved parents desperately want. Please don’t forget our children.
Say their names. Ask about them. Remember their birthdays. Don’t be frightened that mentioning them will remind us that they died. We haven’t forgotten. We never do.
During Baby Loss Awareness Week 2026, I would love people to think about the CARE principles at the heart of Poppy’s Promise — not only within healthcare, but in the way we support anyone who has experienced the loss of a baby, at any stage.
Compassion — You don’t need to fix our grief. You can’t. Just be willing to sit beside us in it.
Acknowledgement — Acknowledge our baby. Acknowledge our loss. However early or late the pregnancy, however long or short their life, they existed. They mattered.
Respect — Understand that everyone grieves differently. There is no correct timeline, no right way to feel and no point at which someone should be expected to have “moved on”.
Empowerment — Let bereaved parents lead. Ask what they need. Ask whether they want to talk about their baby. Give them the space and permission to say their child’s name.
For me, her name is Poppy.
She lived for just 12 hours. But she has changed my whole life. And I hope she will change the experiences of others too.
That doesn’t make losing her okay. Nothing ever will. But it means that alongside the unbearable sadness of what should have been, there is hope. And there is a promise that her name will continue to be spoken.
