Over the last year there has been a few programmes on TV that have covered the subject of child and baby loss.

Some of them have tried hard to get the details right and have done a reasonably good job of portraying the devastation that is caused to the parents and other family members.

Some of the details however have not always been true to life. 

In the programmes it usually shows the support given to the families as being good and given very soon after the tragedy. 
We know from our own experience and from other families we have spoken with that this is not always the case.

Understandably the television producers like to show the better side of the support given as they are trying to cover the actual process for the family following their loss.

What would be a more realistic programme would be one showing the parents struggling to find the support they need, or being let down by the services that should be giving help and advice. 

We know this would probably make even tougher viewing than the ones already shown but it would help those families that have been
overlooked to realise that they should have been given help and where they should be getting it from.

A lot of the stories shown also show the parents having a lot of family support to help them with everything that needs to be done following the death, yet again we know that there are single mums and couples out there that have no family to fall back on or do not have access to the internet to enable them to research what they need to do.

The most recent TV programme showing the effects on the family is Coronation Street and the two actors playing the parts have both themselves gone through such a tragedy. 
This has made it even more poignant and realistic as they have been able to call on their own experiences. This must have also made it a very difficult part for them to act out as well as it would bring all their own emotions back to the surface again.

So far the show has been really good at showing the events that parents will go through in this situation and have not shown it through rose tinted glasses. They have shown the feelings of anger that are felt and how that anger can be aimed at each other. They have shown the grandparent struggling with her emotions but keeping them away from the mum and dad as she doesn't want to trouble them with her sadness.

I hope that they continue to cover the subject in such a powerful and realistic way and that they show that there is a long way to go for the family to try and repair themselves.

The actress, Kym Marsh, has used the programme to help her publicise a petition asking for babies born at 20 weeks onward to be given a birth certificate. Currently the birth certificates are only given to babies born from 24 weeks. 

The petition is on the Change.org site and is called 'Department of health uk, allow registered birth certificates for children born from 20 weeks'. 

We think that this is such an important thing that we want to ask all of our supporters to go along and sign both our petition and theirs. The more support families are given at this awful time the better.

All families that have experienced the death of their baby or child all say that they want their child's life to be recognised and remembered. 
By changing the ruling to provide birth certificates from 20 weeks is going some way to achieve this. 
To these parents their baby was here, they existed, and by not being able to have a birth certificate can take feeling away. 

We are also hoping that because these programmes are starting to show this subject that the people in parliament and the government will start to take notice of what is being said. 
It is a shame that it has to take the TV to get the publicity this topic deserves but if it initiates the start of improvements then that can only be good for families.