‘That silence was completely deafening’: Sloanes share their heartbreaking experience with stillbirth

Crows star Rory Sloane and wife Belinda open up about the loss of their first child Leo in 2018.

Rory and Belinda Sloane are sharing the story of their experience with stillbirth again in a new podcast to continue the conversation.

Bel and Rory have previously talked to The Advertiser about the loss of their first child Leo in 2018.

On the podcast, Dr Golly and the Experts, Bel said she had a straightforward pregnancy, and thought if she were to lose the baby, she would have felt some pain.

“I was thinking ‘oh, well I’m not bleeding, I’m not in pain’,” she said.

“I was worried of course, super worried, you always think the worst, but I think at the time the negative didn’t fill my brain too much because I didn’t have any of those indicators.”

Bel went to hospital after she and Rory had concerns that their baby wasn’t moving inside her belly.

Rory and Belinda Sloane with baby Leo

“We got taken into a room, it felt like time stood still,” Bel said.

Doctors were unable to find a heartbeat for the baby, who at the time Rory and Bel didn’t know the sex.

“That silence, we’d had scans before and obviously when you do the ultrasound we’d always ask to hear the heartbeat, it was the most beautiful sound ever, and that silence was completely deafening,” Rory said.

Bel was very emotional recounting the experience of multiple nurses pushing on her stomach desperately trying and find the heartbeat, to no avail.

“I went silent, I was just in complete shock, and Rory just broke down,” she said.

Little Leo Rory Sloane was stillborn at 34 weeks.

Bel was induced and gave birth naturally instead of opting for a caesarean.

Rory and Belinda Sloane With baby Leo

“Mentally, that was hard to get our head around because it was a drawn out process,” Bel said.

“In the end, what got us through was knowing that, yeah we don’t get to take Leo home at the end of the day, but, we get to finally meet him and hold him and feel like the parents that we want to be.”
In an Instagram post a week after Leo’s birth, the couple announced the stillbirth.

“Last week we said goodbye to our beautiful little man. Leo Rory Sloane was born into the world still, but perfect,” they captioned a photo of both parents holding the hand of their baby, who was due in October.
“Thanks for making us the proudest parents and filling our hearts with love beyond measure, the moments we had with you are now beautiful memories that will last a lifetime #lionwarrior.”