#13 Stillbirth, Donating Breast Milk and the Power of Gardening with Kate Breen

My guest this week is Kate Breen, mother to Isobel, who was stillborn in 2016, and Bruce. I met Kate at our local Sands group where she’s leading a project to create a new memorial garden as a space for parents to go to remember their children. In the interview, we talk about: Finding out her first child, her daughter Isobel, had died at full term (9:38) Isobel’s birth and Kate’s decision to donate her breast milk (16:16) Kate and her husband’s decision to organise a large funeral (34:44) The impact of Isobel’s death on her parents who live in Texas (40:15) Why she chose to stay in touch with the NCT friends she’d made when pregnant with Isobel (44:55) How gardening helped her through maternity leave and the spaces she’s helped create for others to remember their babies (50:11) During the interview, Kate mentions the leaflet Sands produced for grandparents, which her parents found useful. This is part of their online support pack which you can download here: https://www.sands.org.uk/support/bereavement-support In the podcast intro, I mention National Infertility Awareness week and the midweek mindfulness session run by Lucy @_mother_of_one that I found really useful as a mental reset this week. Lots of small charities including baby loss charities are struggling right now, so if you want to do something positive this week, please give them a shout out, donation or other form of support. You can email [email protected] or get in touch on me on Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/footprintsonourhearts/) or Twitter (https://twitter.com/skyesfootprints). If you enjoy the podcast, please leave a rating or review!