Happy Fabulous Friday all. I’m taking a different approach
today and using today’s post to highlight a fabulous cause. Today is National Red Nose Day which raises
money for research into Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Sadly, parents
still have to suffer through the unexpected loss of a child so I think it’s a
worthy cause.
In Australia alone, 3,500 families will suffer the
unexpected loss of a child every year. This can be through stillbirth, SIDS,
sleeping accidents or unexpected death. The main problem with these types of death
is there is often no known cause which leaves grieving parents with no answers.
I know how hard it was to accept my miscarriage with no answers as to why. I
can only imagine the intolerable heart ache loosing your child in such an
unexpected way would have on a parent.
Sadly, I know more than a handful of women who have suffered
stillbirths and SIDS. The oldest person I know is my Grandmother, and 55 years
on, she still holds an enormous amount of pain, grief and guilt about it. It is
clearly one of those things that haunts you for the rest of your life. I would
like to think my Grandmother would feel differently about it now if she had of
had the support back then that is available for parents today.
Despite the medical advances of our world, there is still
little known about what causes stillbirth. Research is vital to find the reason
this happens in an effort to stop it. However, thanks to the research that has
been done on SIDS, the incidence of it has dropped by 80%. Just a few simple
things such as sleeping your baby on its back, keeping the baby away from
smoke, and sleeping them in their own space have made a significant difference.
You can check out other tips about safe sleeping here.
I must admit that my two greatest fears are something
happening to Sticky before she’s born and something happening to her
afterwards. Babies are such fragile little beings and as a parent you do
everything possible to ensure they’re safe. I know I can’t control what happens
to her before she’s born, but I can exert a level of control on what happens to
her afterwards. And some of those decisions will be tough. My father is a
smoker so the rule will be there is no smoking when he is around the baby. I
will not risk anything happening to my baby so I’m not afraid to say if you smoke,
you don’t see the baby. End of story. I’d like to think that having his first grandchild
would give him enough motivation to quit but that’s a different story.
All new parents worry about something happening to their
previous baby so it doesn’t matter if we have suffered loss first hand, we have
suffered the anxiety of it. As parents it’s something that unites and bonds us.
As mothers and fathers, we can empathise with those parents who do suffer it
first hand and try our best to support them. So I urge you to do all you can in
response to this issue. Whether it’s just reading about it to educate yourself,
educating others, donating money, or talking to someone you know who has
experienced it and telling them you’re thinking of them. Any gesture, no matter
how small, has the potential to save a life and you just never know how special
that one life may be!
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