Holly Willoughby has been heavily praised for giving a voice to a stillbirth prevention campaign.

Elizabeth Hutton, CEO of stillbirth charity Kicks Count, revealed the presenter was influential in boosting their profile and reaching a far wider audience.

This wasn't the first time Elizabeth, who knows all too well how painful a stillbirth can be, had met Holly as she previously appeared on Surprise Surprise with the charity's founder Sophia Wyatt.

Holly said: "We met in 2014 when I was filming Surprise Surprise. I was pregnant. I remember this story really resonating with me."

Elizabeth said the This Morning host had "absolutely changed everything" by lending her support to their campaign.

She said: "We’ve had people message us all the time because of the charity and that's because of what you did.

"Having the face of Holly Willoughby up telling people to do this thing made all the difference.

"We've worked for five years to get this in the mainstream and no one was picking it up. Suddenly you got involved and it just catapulted."

The modest mother-of-three thanked Elizabeth for her kind words but admitted it was her team's hardwork that had made the difference.

Elizabeth said: "We do the groundwork but we need some way of getting it out there and that's where you came in."

Shockingly the UK has the third worst stillbirth rate in Europe, but Holly believes it is still a taboo subject and didn't remember ever being told it was a possibility before having her kids.

This Morning's Dr Ranj explained that there was no clear answer but it could be down to lifestyle factors leading to obesity and diabetes and pressure on anti-natal services.

On why the UK has such a high rate, he said: "The honest answer is we probably don't know. Nine babies every day are sadly stillborn.

"The UK has one of the highest rates there are lots of factors. Most people who have a stillborn, we have no cause. People can’t blame themselves."

*This Morning airs weekdays on ITV at 10.30am

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