This Groundbreaking Film Shows What It Really Feels Like To Lose A Baby

A documentary exploring the complexity and reality for families surviving baby loss will have its Irish premier at this year’s Cork Film Festival. Across the world, 7,000 babies are stillborn every single day. That’s 1.2 million babies a year. Yet talking about it remains a taboo. Still Loved by Debbie Howard is about the heartrending struggle, the surprising humour, and the incredible bravery of several families as they strive to transform their lives in honour of their stillborn children. During the production stages the team behind the film met with huge resistance from programmers and commissioners due to the stigma around baby loss. After a four-year uphill battle, the film has just toured UK cinemas to sold out audiences, earning rave reviews from critics who have described it as 'devastatingly accurate' and 'groundbreakingly honest'.

"The subject matter of Still Loved is emotionally challenging, it should be, this is not a film to make the viewer feel comfortable." says Alex Heazell, Clinical Director of Tommy's Stillbirth Research Centre, Manchester. "To make progress, we must break the silence, the stigma and the taboo that surrounds the death of a baby, Still Loved begins this process it provides an accessible, original and profound insight into the effects of the death of baby."

Still Loved will be screened at The Gate cinema on Saturday, November 12 at 6.30pm, tickets €6. See the Cork Film Festival website for booking. Watch the trailer here. Some readers may find it distressing.   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yWayQbFGC_c