The Portadown-based founder of one of Northern Ireland’s leading baby and childless charities spoke at Stormont on June 23, representing all parents who have “said goodbye before 24 weeks”, upon the launch of a new baby loss certificate scheme.
Little Forget Me Nots Trust founder and Funeral Director, Louise Taylor has long campaigned for official recognition of lives lost in early pregnancy.
Louise founded her charity in 2020 – with it being granted official charitable status in 2021 – following the loss of her firstborn son Ruben mid-way through her pregnancy in 2015.
Throughout those years, Louise has drawn upon her own heartache and experience to provide understanding, comfort and support to those who have regrettably come to know the same indescribable pain.
Her work has taught her, in her words, that one of the “most powerful things we can offer a grieving family in recognition”.
Upon the launch of the new baby loss certificate scheme in Northern Ireland – which will now allow parents who have experienced the loss of a baby in early pregnancy to apply for a certificate recognising their loss – Louise explained the importance of the “acknowledgement” of life.
She said: “I recently sat with two parents on the very same day. One family was saying goodbye to their infant child and the other was saying goodbye to a baby they lost in early pregnancy.
“On paper their stories were different but sitting across from them, their pain, the pain they felt, was exactly the same.
“Both parents loved their baby, both parents had hopes and dreams for their baby,” stifling tears she continued, “both parents were trying to make sense of a future that suddenly looked very different and both parents wanted the very same thing for their baby to be acknowledged and remembered and for someone to say that their baby mattered.”
Louise said that is the very reason why the baby loss certificate is so badly needed.
“This is a certificate, this doesn’t take the grief away. Not because it changed what happened because recognition matters,” she added.
“One of the greatest privileges I have in my job is sitting with people in the thick of it when life isn’t neat, when life isn’t tidy, when their questions haven’t any answers.
“In those moments when the world has stopped turning and they are trying to understand how they will take their next breath, what I’ve learned is that people don’t always need us to fix their grief they need us to acknowledge it they need us to listen and they need us to recognise that their baby’s life – no matter how brief – has left a mark on the world.
“This certificate will not heal broken hearts but it does send a very powerful message. It says that these babies existed and it says to parents across Northern Ireland that their grief is real and their baby will always be worthy of recognition.
“Because this is more than a certificate it is about making sure no parent should ever have to explain why they are grieving. No parent should ever have to justify the love that they have for their child because grief is grief, no matter the weeks.”
The scheme is open to applicants who live/lived in Northern Ireland or who experienced their loss in Northern Ireland.
It applies to baby losses before the end of week 24 of pregnancy, or before week 28 for losses before 1992.
You can find more information and submit an application for a baby loss certificate today here.
You can find out more and make contact with Little Forget Me Nots trust here.
