Experiencing a miscarriage, having a stillborn or losing a child is one of the most devastating things someone can go through, and as it's Baby Loss Awareness Week 2022 from 9-15 October there is an opportunity for people to open about this surprisingly comment experience.
Loose Women hosts like Coleen Nolan and Stacey Solomon have sadly gone through miscarriages, and they've opened up about their traumatic experiences…
SEE: Royals speak out about miscarriage and baby loss: Meghan Markle, Sophie Wessex, Zara Tindall
1. Nadia Sawalha
WATCH: Nadia Sawalha opens up about miscarriage in emotional video
Former EastEnders actress Nadia Sawalha has tragically experienced four miscarriages with husband Mark Adderley, and as Boris Johnson's wife Carrie spoke out about her own miscarriage in August 2021, Nadia opened up.
"Morning, I’d never heard the phrase rainbow baby before until Carrie Johnson said it a couple of days ago when she announced the fact that she’s pregnant with her second baby with Boris Johnson," she said. "It’s used to describe the beauty of a baby that comes after you’ve lost a baby.
I really felt like that when I had Kiki, having had miscarriages before. I really felt that, yeah, I wish I’d have known the phrase at the time — the rainbow of it, the beauty of it."
RELATED: Nadia Sawalha's fans in tears as she opens up about devastating miscarriages
Nadia and Mark also gave a raw and honest account of their experiences in a 2018 podcast, titled Dealing With the Heartbreak of Miscarriage. Both Nadia and Mark broke down on several occasions as they relived their painful memories. Nadia, through tears, shared: "From the second you know you're pregnant you start making plans. It doesn’t make any difference how far you are. You can see their face, you can see their smile, start planning where they will go to school."
SEE: 12 celebrities who have bravely opened up about their miscarriages
Nadia then admitted that throughout her pregnancy with their youngest, Kiki, she spent the whole time worrying. "I wasn’t waiting to have a baby, I was waiting to have a miscarriage," she said.
2. Coleen Nolan
© Photo: Getty ImagesColeen Nolan was previously married to Shane Richie
Coleen Nolan previously opened up about her tragic miscarriage during her marriage with ex-husband Shane Richie. She shared her story on Loose Women, following Carrie and Boris Johnson's sad news.
She said: "I remember I had a miscarriage after I had Jake, he was still a baby. It wasn’t planned, but it happened, then I miscarried very early on, I mean, it was next to nothing. I miscarried very early on, I mean, it was next to nothing. But I was horrified at the doctor that came to my house. We’re talking 20 or so years ago so hopefully it’s different now.
"He came to my house, he didn’t know that I haven’t planned this baby forever. He literally walked in, put his hands on my stomach and said, ‘Yes, you’ve lost your baby. Just go to the doctor tomorrow, and they can they can give you a scrape.' That’s what he said, and left my house.
"I sat there and thought: ‘He doesn’t know that he hasn’t just absolutely devastated lives’. He had no feeling at all, it was just: ‘Yeah, whatever, nature’s way.’ I am glad it’s definitely changed from there."
READ: Meghan Markle reveals devastating miscarriage
3. Stacey Solomon
When Stacey announced her fourth pregnancy with fiancé Joe Swash in June 2021, she revealed that they had been trying to grow their family for a while, but had suffered several miscarriages.
She shared a post on Instagram and wrote: "For a really long time we’ve been trying for another pickle… It didn’t work out and this was our news quite a few times" with an accompanying image of a medical document reading 'complete miscarriage'.
She continued: "We decided we were so lucky already to have our boys. It is our biggest privilege in life and we are so grateful to be parents so we stopped trying and counted ourselves so so so blessed already…"
Stacey then explained that she had been feeling unwell and had thought she might be pregnant, but was wary because of her previous experiences: "But yesterday we went to check what was going on… And we were so grateful to hear an extra heartbeat in my tummy…"
4. Linda Robson
Linda Robson and husband Mark Dunford endured a miscarriage a year before welcoming their daughter Bobbie. She opened up about her experience on Loose Women in 2017, as she revealed the baby would have been 23 years old at that point.
She said: "I went to the hospital for a check-up and they started to scan me when the nurse went really quiet and said, 'I'm just "And then they told me the news that the baby had died and they sent me home and said 'You've got to come back tomorrow and we're going to take the baby away'."
Linda added: "Mark found it really distressing and kept thinking, 'Did we do something? [When we made] love? Did something happen then?'" going to have to call a doctor' so I knew something was wrong.
"Going home knowing the baby's dead inside you, going to bed... poor Louis, he was there and we were crying and everything. And it took a long time to get over it really."
Linda revealed that they had also done a test and found out the baby wouldn't have survived anyway because it had an extra chromosome.
If you're looking for support or more information about premature births, stillbirths or miscarriage, Tommy's have a free helpline 0800 0147 800 (open 9 - 5, Monday to Friday) and can be reached via email (midwife@tommys.org).
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