TRIGGER WARNING: This post contains information about stillbirth and infant loss, which may be triggering to some.
When a mom recorded a video about her baby’s upcoming gender scan, she “had no idea” that it would actually end up being a heartbreaking video about losing her baby. The beginning of the video showed the mom, Lauren Sowter, getting ready for the anatomy scan. She said she was nervous because she’s “had ultrasounds in the past where things haven’t been right.” But at the same time, she was excited to learn the sex of her baby and get a clearer picture of what their family would look like.
Lauren told Newsweek that she’s mom to an 18-month-old daughter. Before welcoming her daughter, she had experienced pregnancy loss. She and her partner were excited for her current pregnancy, a second child to complete their family, she explained in her video.
Most of the video was recorded prior to her ultrasound. Over the part in which she spoke about feeling nervous about scans, she wrote, “Listening to this now is so ironic and sad.”
Unfortunately, the video didn’t end in the way the family was expecting. At 16 weeks, she found out that her baby no longer had a heartbeat. The last clip showed Lauren at home that night after learning she had lost her baby.
@lauren.sowter I filmed and edited this before we’d even had the scan (other than the last clip) so I had no idea that THIS was going to be the video. We’re still very much processing and don’t have all (or any really!) of the answers yet – it’s just so sad. #latemiscarriage #babyloss #secondtrimesterloss #miscarriage #pregnancyloss ♬ original sound – lauren.sowter
“Me after everyone else had gone to bed and the reality was sinking in that our baby was no longer with us,” the mom wrote over her video. In the caption she explained, “I filmed and edited this before we’d even had the scan (other than the last clip) so I had no idea that THIS was going to be the video. We’re still very much processing and don’t have all (or any really!) of the answers yet – it’s just so sad.”
In her TikTok bio, Lauren wrote that she’s “oversharing to help process.” She told Newsweek that she’s “naturally just a pretty big oversharer,” and she doesn’t believe pregnancy loss is something that people need to keep quiet about if they want to talk about it.
@lauren.sowter #latemiscarriage #pregnancyloss #secondtrimesterloss #miscarriage #babyloss ♬ original sound – lauren.sowter
“So often we’re told to keep it to ourselves or ‘look on the bright side’ when we lose babies, especially if we have other children already, but the truth is it’s just devastating and, because of that, it’s also very isolating,” she told the publication.
Lauren’s decision to share the video was “mainly just to help [her] process” what happened, but she ended up receiving supportive comments from many other parents, some of whom have had similar heartbreaking experiences.
In a series of videos, Lauren later opened up about delivering her baby after losing him.
On September 5, Lauren shared an update, writing, “Our baby boy Sunny was born sleeping at around 5.30pm on 4th September. We decided on his name after the summer turned out to be the only time we got to spend with him in the end, and the sunrise really showed up for him the day he arrived.”
Numerous people thanked her for sharing her story.
“I can’t explain how much you’re helping those who go through loss,” one person commented.
“Thank you for sharing your story to help others it’s a really brave thing to do 💛,” someone else wrote.
