I had the pleasure today to come across a very beautiful short animated documentary made in Sweden called Still Born. This was written, directed & animated by Åsa Sandzén and produced by Mario Adamson. Although this isn’t on line to view yet, as it’s still screening at film festivals, I was lucky enough to be able to watch a private version of this. It’s a very powerful and beautifully made short film which gets the message across very well in ten minutes. You can find more info about the film here:

http://www.stillborn.se/

I’d like to wish the Still Born team lots of luck in film festivals and hope that the film is met with the praise it deserves. It’s fantastic to see that stillbirth and baby loss is now getting tackled in films from different countries and in different genres.

As well as Still Born, being a short animated documentary from Sweden and our film, a feature documentary in the UK, there are also other films being made finally, after many years of silence on this subject matter. Other films are:

Return to Zero – a feature drama from Hollywood – http://returntozerothemovie.com/blog/

First Heartbeat – a feature documentary about recurrent miscarriage from the UK – http://returntozerothemovie.com/blog/

The Still Project – a feature documentary about baby loss from the USA – http://stillproject.org/

Peekaboo – a short fiction drama that we made in 2012 – https://vimeo.com/42260999

The House I Keep – a short fiction about baby loss from the US – http://www.thehouseikeep.com/

It’s wonderful to see that the silence is finally being broken and people are starting to tackle one of the remaining taboos – the loss of a baby. We wish all these filmmakers every success in their endeavours and hope that their films help to make a difference to understanding what happens when a families lose their babies.

Today we went to film with Matt and Juliette at their home in Knowle, Solihull, just three weeks before the due date for their new baby.

It was a fraught time, as stress and anxiety levels are pretty high at the moment for them both. A subsequent pregnancy after a stillbirth is not an easy thing at all to get through and the with the due date looming, their fear is growing stronger. Juliette and Matt lost their son Ben at 42 weeks in November 2012, and feel acutely aware of the fact that anything can go wrong right at the last minute, so they are not finding this time easy to get through at all. Thankfully, they are under the care of a wonderful consultant who is taking great care of them, so they are in good hands.

We spent time talking to Juliette and Matt about how they are feeling and how they are getting through day to day in these last few weeks on their journey to their ‘rainbow’ baby.

We visited their son Ben’s grave, decorated prettily with lots of very personal ornaments and keepsakes. The sun came out as we got there and shined throughout the visit, going back behind the clouds as Juliette and Matt got back into their car. It was a sad moment for the crew. We’ve got to know Matt and Juliette well over the last few months, and this was the first time we’ve been to Ben’s grave, a little boy we’ve heard so much about, and it was clear to see how much he is missed by his mum and dad.


  After lunch, we were lucky enough to see some wonderful movements from the new baby in Juliette’s tummy, as Matt and Juliette relaxed on the sofa. We saw the tree they have planted in their garden in Ben’s memory, and spent more time with them in their home before Juliette prepared to go to her baby yoga class, and Matt got ready for work, on a night shift.

We were aware how difficult it was for Matt and Juliette to film today, being closer to the birth now and feeling much more anxious and we’re really happy that they made the effort to do this for us, so that others can benefit by watching this film and understanding what parents go through when they lose a baby, and how they get through the next pregnancy. We want to say a big thank you to Matt and Juliette for working with us today.This will be the last time we see Matt and Juliette until after the birth of their new baby in a few weeks time. It’s hard for them to think too much about this right now. As they have said, it takes away the innocence of pregnancy and the natural assumption that a pregnancy means a baby. They are getting through one day at a time.

We wish Matt and Juliette all the very best and hope and pray that everything turns out well and that next time we see them, we will be able to film them with their new baby son or daughter.

Our crew today were:
Director – Debbie Howard
Producer – Polly Perkins
Director of Photograph – Emma Dalesman
Sound Recordist – David Mitchell.