TV presenter Anita Rami says discussing miscarriages is ‘such a taboo’

Anita Rani has said that discussing miscarriages is a “taboo” and women often “suffer in silence”, after revealing earlier this year that she tragically suffered one herself.

In January, the broadcaster told Red magazine that the incident, which happened in December 2018, had taught her it is “okay to be vulnerable”.

The 42-year-old presenter said that after opening up about the incident she had “loads of people get in touch just to say well done for speaking out”, leading her to conclude that the issue remains “such a taboo”.

“So many women go through it and yet, it’s just such a secret that we all sort of suffer in silence,” she said.

When she was asked to write a piece for the magazine, she initially wrote a piece which said she “had a great year and I’m really positive”.

But she decided to change direction after realising it didn’t read true. “I just thought, bulls***, none of this is true, I’ve actually had a really difficult year,” she added.

Read more: Alanis Morissette talks 'challenges and miscarriages'

Rani explained “it felt good to be able to use my voice to speak out about something that affects loads of people”.

“I think what I’ve discovered is I’ve begun to give more of myself away the older I’ve got.

“I’ve realised that I have got a voice and, if I use it in the right way, it’s meaningful to other people.

“For years and years and years I just kept my head down, kept myself to myself and just thought why would I talk about anything personal? My job is my job and the rest of it is my own.

“But now actually I just think, actually, it’s really important for me to use this platform to speak about things because it gives other people permission and it makes other people feel connected as well.”

Read more: James Van Der Beek and wife Kimberly open up about heartbreaking miscarriage

Rani isn’t the only celebrity to open up about her miscarriage experience.

Earlier this year singer, Halsey shared her own tragic experience, describing it as “the most inadequate I’ve ever felt”.

The 24-year-old, who has endometriosis, had a miscarriage while performing on stage.

In a new interview with the Guardian she described how she found it “demoralising”, particularly when she received a backlash online after opening up about her experiences.

Beyoncé has also spoken about suffering multiple miscarriages – and how it “taught [her] lessons”.

The singer and entrepreneur is married to American rapper Jay-Z, 50, and is mother to the couple’s three children: daughter Blue Ivy, seven, and boy-girl twins Sir and Rumi, two.

“Having miscarriages taught me that I had to mother myself before I could be a mother to someone else.

She opened up about experiencing miscarriage in an interview with Elle UK for the publication’s January 2020 issue.

She said: "I began to search for deeper meaning when life began to teach me lessons I didn't know I needed. I learned that all pain and loss is in fact a gift.”

Beyoncé has previously spoken about experiencing a miscarriage two years before giving birth to her oldest child, daughter Blue Ivy, in 2012.

Read more: Celebrities who are pregnant or have given birth during lockdown

Rani is the presenter of new Channel 4 programme Britain’s Best Parent?, which will see parents display their techniques before a studio audience votes for their preferred style.

She said that the programme is about the parents “showing the world the way they do it and why they do it that way, and all of them are brilliant”.

Britain’s Best Parent? starts on Channel 4 on May 28.

Additional reporting PA.