Aussie actress Claire Holt reveals miscarriage heartbreak in hopes women share their stories
IT’S a terrible tragedy tearing apart the lives of 2000 Aussie women a week, yet the price of miscarriage is so private that mourning mothers are often left to bear the loss alone. Aussie actor Claire Holt reveals her own heartbreak and hopes others will too.
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IT’S a terrible tragedy tearing apart the lives of 2000 Aussie women a week, yet the price of miscarriage is so private that mourning mothers are often left to bear the loss alone.
Now brave Aussie actor Claire Holt has revealed her own heartbreak and health experts are pleading for more women to share their stories.
“It breaks my heart to think that losing a baby feels like something we have to keep to ourselves. Why is it any different than the death of a loved one? How is it any less meaningful?” the 29-year-old star of The Vampire Diaries told her four million Instagram followers.
Holt posted a candid image of herself in a hospital gown and hairnet as she was wheeled in for surgery after the pregnancy failed 11 days ago. She said she had “never felt more broken in her life”.
“I debated sharing this so soon and I’m still frightened about making such a private struggle public, but I’m doing it anyway because it’s important,” Holt continued.
She said she had been online reading other women’s stories to tell her the feelings of “depression and hopelessness were normal” and she wasn’t “broken forever”. She said she was comforted but was astounded at how common it was.
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“As soon as I told my story, almost everyone I spoke to told me theirs — their own, their wife’s, their sister’s. So many people go through it and understand the breadth of pain, yet so few people talk about it.”
An estimated 103,000 Australian women suffer a miscarriage each year, and Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show that one in four known pregnancies ends in miscarriage.
Holt’s frank revelation led tens of thousands of other women to comment on the post, including her fellow Aussie star Teresa Palmer, who revealed she had also suffered a miscarriage, in August 2015.
The Hacksaw Ridge actor said she “pretended it was fine” when it happened.
“I was okay and it was a breeze, truth is I was devastated,” she said, after thanking Holt for sharing her story.
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CEO of miscarriage, stillbirth and newborn death charity, SANDS, Andre Carvalho said Holt’s bravery in speaking out about the “taboo subject” would help others.
“Just by Claire’s action we have already seen thousands of people who’ve felt they like too can share their story,” he said.
“That in itself is a really positive step and I think that’s why it’s important to recognise Claire and (her fiance) Andrew (Joblon) for speaking out.”
Mr Carvalho said couples may feel uneasy talking about a miscarriage because most choose to keep the pregnancy a secret for the first twelve weeks, which is when most occur.
“They fear that they are going to be misunderstood, that their loss is not important enough with a miscarriage, so it’s really about encouraging people to talk more openly and emphasise that to the individual, this is a tragic loss which is really important,” he said.