Woman carrying empty cot to Anglesey for baby loss charity

Between September 9-11, Founder and CEO of the charity Our Sam, Philippa Davies, supported by 27 additional walkers will be carrying an empty cot 44 miles along the North Wales coast.

This is part of the charity's September awareness raising and fundraising campaign.

Our Sam was set up by Philippa in 2020 and is the legacy of Sam, a baby girl who was stillborn in 2012 at 33 weeks, following a diagnosis of Edwards’ Syndrome at Philippa's twenty-week scan.

Sam was one of five babies Philippa lost over seven years, resulting in her never achieving her dream of becoming a parent.

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Philippa said: “Our aim with setting up Our Sam was to raise awareness of the real impact of pregnancy and baby loss for women, men and families, improve understanding and support, and enable easier access to support when it’s needed, as well as creating easy to use resources for healthcare, wellbeing and welfare professionals, to enable them to signpost to support more easily."

The current awareness campaign is named ‘With the strength of an elephant’ and runs throughout the month of September.

Discussing the decision behind this name Philippa said: "So many women, men and families affected by the 1 in 4 pregnancies and babies lost in the UK each year between conception and 28 days post-birth, carry the grief of loss silently and invisibly with the strength of an elephant."

She continued: "Secondly, because people still find pregnancy and baby loss an incredibly difficult subject to talk about, it still remains very taboo, the elephant in the room.

"Finally, the impact of pregnancy and baby loss on mental health, is often underestimated for women, men and families, you can’t un-experience this loss, and like elephants, bereaved parents and families don’t forget the babies they’ve lost and the experiences they’ve been through."

Philippa set up Our Sam after facing struggles with mental health including depression, anxiety and PTSD and she wanted to ensure others wouldn't go through the same struggles alone. 

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Since launching the charity in 2020, Our Sam has developed a service called SOS Baby Loss, which is the UK's first online directory of advice, guidance and support for baby loss. 

Philippa Davies

The service contains nearly 600 organisations and services, and allied signposting resources for professionals.

The charity also works alongside local healthboards including Betsi Cadwaldar University Health Board and Anglesey Local Authority family support services to signpost training.

Last year the charity set up Our Stars Choir, an online choir for bereaved parents from across the UK and developed an online one-stop signposting resource, SOS Baby Loss, for bereaved parents.

Little Light is an original song, written by Philippa, with music producer Chris Hollis (New Noise Audio), choir director Steve Taylor, and video producer Paul Smith (Standout Films).

The song was recorded with Our Stars Choir, featuring Liverpool singer Angela Inkson, by guitarist Ben Thomas, who has performed with Adele and Sam Smith at his studio in Kent.

Through their latest campaign the charity aims to raise £24,000 which equates to 65% of the core and running costs per year. 

If the target is reached between October 2022 and September 2023 the charity has pledged to offer 100 FREE SOS Baby Loss tailored signposting packages for organisations within the public sector.

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The current cost of these services are £130 per tailored signposting package.

The walking teams will set off on Friday (September 9) from Buckley, and continue, covering five sections from North East to North West Wales, along the coast, finishing at 5pm on Sunday (September 11), at The Pilot House Café at Penmon Point, Anglesey carrying an empty cot along the route.

The cot will be covered with the names of babies, lost too soon, or families who have experienced pregnancy or baby loss.

According to the Our Sam website, the 44 miles is set to symbolise the loss period, in weeks, over which Our Sam provides support, from conception to 28 days post-birth.

The charity is also running a 'Great Elephant Cake Challenge' which encourages people to create their own elephant cake to raise money for the charity. 

Those wanting to make a donation can do so here.