The CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland has opened up about the pain of stillbirth.
Sarah Walker spent 25 years in BT in various senior leadership positions before joining Cisco in 2022.
She is also an advisor to the UK Government’s Board of Trade and a non-executive director at Liverpool Women’s Hospital Trust.
Last year she succeeded David Meads as a CEO of Cisco UK and Ireland.
In a deeply personal LinkedIn post, she has revealed it’s exactly 18 years since her daughter Isabelle was stillborn.
Walker said she ‘pondered deeply’ before sharing her experience but said she wanted to end the ‘taboo’ around the subject.
She wrote: “Many of my network will notice that even by Cisco standards, I have taken a little more PTO (paid time off) this August.
“This is to spend more time with my family as we mark what would have been Isabelle’s 18th birthday – an entire childhood now missed, among 18 years of ‘what If’s’ and ‘maybe’s’.
“Our daughter born sleeping on 14th August, 2007, without explanation or cause.
“One in four pregnancies in the UK ends in loss, a statistic which in 2025 remains unfathomable.
“So in our professional circles, 25 per cent of the people we meet, will be at some stage of their own journey, dealing with the devastating loss of a baby, and yet it very much remains a taboo subject.
“The journey through loss and grief is complex, it can be exhausting, it can be overwhelming. In the early years for me – it absolutely made me question my ability or desire to continue with my professional career.
“In those moments, how I was treated, how I was supported, made all the difference. Those that met my loss with compassion, with interest, and with real empathy, kept me in the game. And for that I will be eternally grateful.
“Those that questioned whether I would still be fit to lead, or mentally capable of working as both a new Mum and a bereft Mum, rocked me.. but over time I have come more to pity their ignorance.
“There will be many who read this post and the journey will resonate, I’m so sorry you are the one in four, and I hope that you have the support of your colleagues, your business and all those around you to help you continue to find strength to grow.
“For those that are unaware of the impacts of baby loss, please take a moment to think of those around you who maybe on this journey, they may need your compassion, and they may be yearning for someone to simply ask their babies name.
“Support of parents after loss has come a long way since Isabelle was born, but there is still so much more for us to do; as friends, colleagues, leaders and organisations, lets continue to #breakthetaboo.”
Walker praised the support she’d received from Zoe Clark-Coates MBE and the amazing work of their charities Saying Goodbye and The Mariposa Trust.