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Last nights episode of Offspring was a sad reminder for many families who have lost a child to stillbirth.

Nina (played by Asher Keddie) had to share the heartbreaking news with one of her patients that her baby would be delivered stillborn.

The patient turned up to an unscheduled appointment with Nina upset that she hadn’t felt her baby move in the past 24hrs.

After doing a scan Nina confirmed the earth shattering news.

“I know this is hard to hear, I can see on the scan that your babies heart is no longer beating.”

As Asher said, “There is no good side to this….”

Sadly more than 2500 babies are born still in Australia each year, this equates to 6 babies delivered still in Australia daily…that’s one family every 4 hours.

Up to 60% of stillbirths occur at term, in the third trimester.

Over 800 babies a year or in up to a third of cases where a baby is born still there is nothing wrong with the baby and the death remains unexplained.

Still Aware thanked Offspring for bringing more awareness to the often rarely spoken about heartache that families suffer.

“Thank you Offspring on Ten for bringing awareness to stillbirth in tonight’s episode. Sadly, this happens too often, 6 babies every day in Australia in fact. Without talking about stillbirth, nothing will change.

Sending all bereaved families strength and love. If you need support after tonight’s episode, please don’t hesitate to call a friend, a family member, or the Sands Support Helpline 1300 072 637.”

Comments include,
– “It’s a reality for many women and I’m glad it’s being shown. I lost my son last year at full term. Thank you Offspring”

– “From someone who has been there, that scene was written and acted extremely well. Thank you.”

– “While I’m pleased that this scene was acted and written respectfully, it would have been good for Chanel 10 to have shown a warning at the beginning of the show. As someone who has lost a baby, the scene was very close to my own experience and I wasn’t expecting to see it tonight. It’s left me feeling very raw.”

– “My son was born stillborn 32 yrs ago and as I sit here in a flood of tears because all the memories of his birth came back , I think the birth scene was beautifully done .”

– ” We lost our daughter full term just over three months ago, while I would have liked a warning that this show may be distressing to some viewers, I thought it was beautifully done and glad i watched it. Sadly its a reality for so many but its not spoken about enough either.”

– “So pleased Offspring have shown an episode involving the loss of a child as it’s something you never get over. It gets easier as the years go on but it’s still very hard.”

You can view last nights episode here

If you need support please don’t hesitate to call the Sands Support Helpline 1300 072 637.

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  • Good on the producers of Offspring on touching on this raw and real issue sensitively.

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  • yeah and sadly this episode was very confronting and all too real. Too many parents have experienced this and it is so sad to think about. At least they aren’t alone in their experience, for whatever that thought is worth

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  • Such a sad episode and a reflection on the sadness and pain that many families experience.

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  • This episode was handled so beautifully. As an Aunt to a beautiful stillborn girl 21 years ago, I still remember vividly my shock and horror and can never fully imagine what my sister went through. My niece was the first grandchild and much anticipated and we still feel deeply what happened. My sister went on to have two beautiful children, but we always say she had 3. She is a Mum to 3 children.

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  • I like offspring for its quirkiness, weird humor etc, to escape reality and have some laughs. This episode whilst important I guess in some ways, wasn’t my favourite.

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  • this was a heavy episode

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  • Many years ago my neighbor went to the hospital to deliver her baby and the baby was born still born, she still feels the pain every now and then. I myself went through several miscarriages, under which one silent miscarriage and I know how intense the feeling of loss and grieve can be.
    I didn’t see the show but can imagine that for some this might have been great to watch, while for others it might have rip open old wounds.

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  • There is much better ways of teaching children I think they went too far.

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  • I have a friend whose baby could easily have been stillborn. The midwives kept saying the mum was ok to keep going as she was. A surgeon walked past, then went back to speak to one of the midwives, and realised my friend was still in labor so he decided to check her himself. He quickly told the staff to prepare her for an emergency c-section when they got her down to theatre. The still stood around just talking and laughing so he yelled “I said now”. and basically ran down to theatre to get ready. The baby struggled to breathe when he was born had to go to NICU for a couple of days. My friend was later told that had he not acted when he did there was no doubt that their beautiful baby son would have been stillborn.

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  • I’m glad I didn’t see this show last night. One never forgets a stillbirth even after 50 years. Thoughts are always there about whether something I did or didn’t do caused it. Glad the show was well done, but agree with others that a warning might have been nice. I was out, and now won’t make the effort to catch up on the show.

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  • This brought back a lot of heartache for me. My son was stillborn 35 years ago and it still breaks my heart to think about it. I was told it was my fault and not to talk about it. After 10 years I got a new doctor and he helped me to realise it wasn’t anything I did wrong. Through him I was able to move on. The pain never goes away completely but you never forget. Thank you Offspring for presenting this in a caring way

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  • Sending love, hugs and prayers to all that have experienced the sad loss. xxx

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  • The way that Offspring deal with such emotional and difficult issues is a credit to the writers and actors. The storyline is so real and raw.

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  • This episode made me cry. My husband said, but its not real. That didn’t make it any less painful to watch, knowing someone somewhere had this as their experience of childbirth. Bless them all.

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  • One of the saddest situations.

    Reply

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