Feedback about Losing Layla - the documentary

'It was the bravest and most moving piece of filmmaking I've ever seen. Thanks for your generosity in sharing such intimate moments and raw emotions. Every single person who watched it would have gained from it, and I'm sure it will go a long way towards a greater understanding of death and grief. Congratulations.'
Fiona Inglis

'What an incredible film. So brave, so beautiful, so sensitive, so personal. I don't think I have ever been quite so moved by a documentary. The journey was unbelievably powerful.'
Best wishes, Ian

'As I sit at my desk the following morning, I am still moved to tears. Last night's viewing crawled deep inside me, like nothing I have ever experienced in my entire life. I have never cried so much and so hard. My mother has always said that there is nothing more unnatural than the death of a child. I have never really understood what she meant, until last night.'
Viki

'Losing Layla is one of the most important Australian documentaries produced recently.It was the strongest piece of television that I have seen for a very long time. In the context of the swath of reality television that has filled the screens, this documentary shows that real reality is shocking and compelling and raises many ethical issues of voyeurism, but also is filled with human strength and resilience. Such footage could have been regarded as sensationalist and emotionally manipulative, but the structure of the program cocoons this material inside a three-act movement that makes the journey a gut wrenching but deeply rewarding one. It also confronts our cultural aversion to the realities of death in ways that will make it of enduring value in training and educational contexts.'
Regards, Stuart Cunningham

'Thank you so much for sharing your story about your beautiful baby girl Layla so openly. By allowing me to watch your story I feel as if you gave me the most personal and sacred gift anyone could offer. I hope though to let you know that you and Michael touched so many so deeply and you have taught so much by sharing your story.'
Wendy Roncolato

'It is every film maker's ambition I think, to reach beyond the screen and touch his/her audience in a profound way. We want to make a difference, we want the human condition to be nurtured. We want to inspire, give clarity, invigorate. Having spent the last hour or so reading the thousands of chat room contributions 'Losing Layla' has generated, it's obvious that you've succeeded. What a magnificent legacy for Layla. Losing Layla has opened a forum for a human grieving that is beyond price. There are thousands of people in Australia today who feel better because of this film. Thousands who feel no longer alone. You have healed wounds, nurtured love, and generated empathy and understanding. I loved reading how so many parents had turned off their TVs at the end of the program and gone to their children's bedrooms, just to look at them. And as they watched them sleep, they rejoiced for the gift of their lives, and were made humble by the overwhelming bond of love they felt. It made me weep to think of it. In a world struggling to define its heart, you have made a difference.'
Love,
Steve Whest

'I wanted to write and thank you for the most moving and beautiful video I have ever seen. I was moved to tears and to nod in recognition as I watched Losing Layla. I lost my third son Seth at 14 weeks gestation. I could relate to your wanting to yell at people that you had just lost a child. I could relate to the need to yell and scream in pain, I still am not able to do that yet. Again thanks for your openness and the way you put your pain out there for people to see. I felt someone understood how I felt.'
Yours with love, Tracey McCann

'I am still walking around with a heavy heart 12 hours after seeing your documentary. I cannot seem to stop crying and feel so much pain for you. All of life's little drama's, pressures, not enough money, not enough time, too fat, carpet has a big coffee stain all seems so pathetic in light of your pain and grief. You have touched the lives of complete strangers and changed their life in ways you will never see. You have reconnected people with their spirit and engaged their very raw, primal emotions that makes them human. This little angel in only four days has made grown men and women weep uncontrollably.'
To both of you thank you, Patricia

'I watched Losing Layla last night and was affected greatly. I found that it has made me look at my daughter, Sera, in an even greater light. For this I thank you. After Losing Layla I did, like I suspect many other parents, went into her room to just stare and be grateful. I was never happier to hear her cry.Through your public grief you have managed to change many lives.'
Regards, Daron Jacks

'Dear Vanessa,
Thank you for your heartfelt and honest documentary Losing Layla. I am a clinical midwife consultant at Westmead Hospital here in Sydney, and am writing on behalf of many of my colleagues who were moved to tears with your experience. Your documentary exquisitely told the whole story, and impressed upon us, as clinicians, the care required, and the impact that the death of a baby has, and continues to have, long after the event. We have bought the video for our ward library, and I am now using it as a teaching tool for our midwives. Be assured that your story lives on and will continue to touch people for many years to come.'
Cheers, Leanne

'I woke up the next morning still crying after watching the moving and deeply saddening documentary losing Layla. Thankyou for being brave enough to screen the show and to the even braver parents for making it. I will always remember them and baby Layla. We done again, ABC.'
LB Nunawading (Letter to the Herald Sun)

'I have just viewed Losing Layla. To try and put my reaction into words regarding the courage and depth of Vanessa and Michael's pain seems almost an obsenity. Words are so inadequate. These brave parents have ensured that Layla's brief life has been immortalised in the benefit others will gain from the honest details of their journey. My heart goes out to them but please assure them that those of us who work with people in pain and trauma will be grateful for their contribution to other's regaining some sort of equilibrium.'
Joy Conolly, Psychologist