JCIP #217 - Chris McHugh

In episode 217 of The Just Checking In Podcast we checked in with journalist Chris McHugh. Chris currently works as a broadcast journalist for BBC Oxford. We came across Chris through friend of the pod Matt Graveling who sent us a story Chris had done around miscarriage and baby loss with a charity called Wynter’s Wish FC. Wynter's Wish FC are a bereavement football team for men affected by baby, child or pregnancy loss, based in Didcot. The team promotes therapy through sport and have been nominated for a BBC Radio Oxford 'Make a Difference' award. In the piece, Chris spoke to a number of men in the team about their experiences of miscarriage and also shared his own story of miscarriage and baby loss. In this episode we discuss his journalism journey, social media and a deep dive into the piece and all of the issues around miscarriage and baby loss for men. We then explore his own experience of miscarriage, the grief he went through and how and why it differed hugely from his wife’s processing of the event. We also discuss the pressure men feel to emotionally support and protect their female partners after a miscarriage but don’t know where to find support themselves, as well as the guilt some men feel when they do want some time and space to grieve away from supporting their partners. We finish by discussing the tools that people need to support the men and women in their lives, especially men who are going through miscarriage and baby loss and how we improve the conversation going forward and break this very stigmatised taboo. As always, #itsokaytovent You can listen to the BBC Oxford piece Chris did in full here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/p0ggl83c You can follow Chris on social media below: Twitter: https://twitter.com/ChrisMcHugh31 Support Us: Patreon: www.patreon.com/venthelpuk GoFundMe: www.gofundme.com/f/help-vent-supp…ir-mental-health Merchandise: www.redbubble.com/people/VentUK/shop Music: @patawawa - Strange: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d70wfeJSEvk