Aston Villa Women’s Missy Bo Kearns praised for opening up about pregnancy loss
Baby loss charity Tommy’s has praised Aston Villa Women midfielder Missy Bo Kearns after she opened up about her pregnancy loss in a heartfelt interview.
Lioness and Aston Villa Women midfielder Missy Bo Kearns has been praised by a pregnancy loss charity for opening up about her grief in a heartfelt interview.
The 25-year-old and her partner, Luton midfielder Liam Walsh, revealed that they lost their child during pregnancy last month in an announcement on Instagram.
“With very heavy hearts, we want to share that we’ve lost our baby during pregnancy,” she wrote.
“The past weeks have been filled with a kind of sadness that’s hard to explain, and we’re still trying to come to terms with it all.
“Right now, we’re focusing on recovering and supporting each other through this. We truly appreciate the love and support around us more than we can say.”
The couple say they found out after Missy went to the hospital ‘with shivers’ that their baby no longer had a heartbeat and Missy was told she had sepsis from the loss.
Since announcing the loss, Missy opened up about her grief in an interview on ITV, describing the isolating feelings of losing a pregnancy and suffering from the ‘sceptic miscarriage’. She said: “Suddenly you're not pregnant, and your hormones change, your symptoms start to go, like overnight. I think it's a different type of grief.”
She continued: “You actually feel like you're the only person it's ever happened to. But really, it's so common, and that's why I think it's important that the message is out there and don't feel alone and stuff, because it's happened to so many people. People don't tell people that they've been through it.
“They suffer in silence. And I just hope that people may not suffer in silence now, knowing that, like I'm here, if anyone wants to speak, there are charities like Tommy's, so many other charities that, if anyone needs them, have reached out to me for support.”
Now, the footballer has been praised for her honest account by Tommy’s, the UK's leading pregnancy charity, dedicated to funding research into the causes of miscarriage, stillbirth, and premature birth .
In a post on Facebook, the charity said: “We're so grateful to Missy for opening up so publicly about her grief and how it's affected both her and her partner. Thank you, Missy.”
Other women took to the comments agreeing that the grief of baby and pregnancy loss is ‘lonely’ and ‘silent’.
Anyone struggling with the loss of a baby or pregnancy can receive support from Tommy’s helpline by calling 0800 0147 800. Visit the charity’s website for more information.