People Are Sharing Heartbreaking Stories And Images Of Their Stillborn Children

    EastEnders actor Rakhee Thakrar started using #SayTheirName after her character on the show gave birth to a stillborn baby. Warning: This post contains images that some readers may find distressing.

    Laura Silver
    by Laura Silver

    BuzzFeed News Reporter, UK

    In Friday's episode of EastEnders, Shabnam and Kush learned that their unborn child had died, then in Monday's episode, Shabnam gave birth to their stillborn baby.

    BBC

    EastEnders worked closely with stillbirth and neonatal death charity Sands on the storyline to help raise awareness of how surprisingly common stillbirth actually is.

    Sands bereavement support services manager Erica Stewart said: “Sadly, stillbirth is not rare. In the UK alone 5,712 babies were stillborn or died within the first 28 days of life in 2013, shattering the lives of parents, their families, and friends."

    Despite this, the death of unborn children is still rarely talked about, and through the popularity of EastEnders, Sands hopes to "lift the taboo, and raise awareness of all the issues that surround the death of a baby", Stewart said.

    Following Tuesday's episode, in which the stillborn child was named Zaair, actor Rakhee Thakrar, who plays Shabnam, started using the hashtag #SayTheirName to encourage people to share the names of their stillborn babies.

    Rakhee Thakrar @RakheeThakrar

    For all the babies and children that don't get a tomorrow #SayTheirName @SandsUK

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    People responded by sharing images and stories of their babies.

    Lisa Gray x @lisawilkie90

    @Say_Their_Name My little angel Sophia Maisie Wilkie 💙💜. Always loved. Always missed 😘😘

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    Laura @LauryLaurzy

    #SayTheirName @SandsUK 💗💗Rhys💗💗

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    Many parents who shared their images described their babies as "born sleeping" or "born asleep".

    Chris Binnie @ChrisBinnie9

    @RakheeThakrar @Say_Their_Name please retweet, remembering our son Henry, born sleeping 2/5/14 #SayTheirName

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    Kelly Paxton @Paxtonkel2

    My sleeping beauty Bella Violet born sleeping at 36 weeks. Bella #SayTheirName @RakheeThakrar

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    leanne cotton @lilly211987

    @RakheeThakrar My twin baby boys born sleeping 16.10.07 & still feels like it was yesterday 💙 Jamie & Lewis 💙💖💙

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    The hashtag gained momentum among people who had and hadn't experienced stillbirth.

    Emma English @emmajanerose37

    @RakheeThakrar @splatwragg @Say_Their_Name you have no idea how much you are doing for so many people xxxxx

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    Kellie @kca_1989

    @Say_Their_Name thank you for recognising our babies. My girls are so missed and loved. Amira and Jasmine 💗💗

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    Stewart told BuzzFeed News that Sands thinks the hashtag is "brilliant", because "babies’ names don’t get mentioned enough once they’ve died and [the] funeral has happened, for fear of upsetting parents".

    She added: "But it's really helpful to parents to be able to keep talking about their baby.

    "The death of an unborn baby is a major bereavement and needs to be acknowledged as one. Parents don't forget about it, they just learn to live with it and the baby still very much becomes part of family, and that needs to be acknowledged."

    Following the popularity of #SayTheirName, Thakrar has set up a dedicated twitter page for names and pictures of stillborn babies to continue to be shared.

    Rakhee Thakrar @RakheeThakrar

    Due to overwhelming response to #SayTheirName. Going forward @splatwragg & I decided to dedicate a page to ur babies names @Say_Their_Name 💟

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    Stewart added: "Rakhee has given parents a platform and permission to talk about their babies and Sands welcomes that a lot."