A year since losing their baby son, Rory and Belinda Sloane have launched a new nationwide stillbirth research campaign with an emotional and heartfelt online video describing their ongoing pain.

Key points: Rory and Belinda Sloane's baby Leo was stillborn in August last year

Rory and Belinda Sloane's baby Leo was stillborn in August last year They have now launched a nationwide research campaign for stillbirth called "Lion Warrior"

They have now launched a nationwide research campaign for stillbirth called "Lion Warrior" They hope to raise awareness and funds to reduce stillbirth rates in Australia

The AFL star and the television presenter lost their baby son Leo, who was stillborn, 34 weeks into Belinda's pregnancy on August 24, 2018.

The couple have now opened up in detail about their trauma, launching a campaign for charity Red Nose called "Lion Warrior" in honour of Leo, which is Latin for "lion".

The pair are hoping to raise awareness and funds for stillbirth research.

"After Leo was born, the first thing that happened — I cut the cord, which was really nice of our obstetrician Chris to ask me to do," the Adelaide Crows co-captain said in the video.

Rory Sloane shared this photo of himself sitting beside his son Leo in hospital. ( Instagram: rorysloane )

"A great moment to experience as a father and I remember him just passing Leo straight into Belinda's arms and, again, probably the most emotional we've ever been I think.

"I remember looking across and Belinda holding her little son in her arms and him obviously being lifeless.

"It's so hard to explain — the joy on Belinda's face, but also matched with the sorrow — it was heartbreaking."

'We're not taking him home'

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In the video, the pair revealed Leo was conceived by IVF, weighed just over two and a half kilograms and was fifty centimetres long.

Belinda, fighting back tears, shared the mix of emotions she felt when holding Leo in her arms for the first time.

"I'd describe Leo as perfection … he had a little button nose, cute little cupid's bow, rosy cheeks, there was blonde hair that had started to curl so I reckon he would have had hair like his daddy," she said.

"I just remember holding him and thinking 'you're so perfect' and saying that as well.

"I looked over at Rory and seeing him crying brought it back to reality that we're not taking him home."

Belinda and Rory Sloane shared this photo with their baby Leo. ( www.rednose.org.au )

She also revealed the heartbreaking moment when the pair had gone to hospital because she thought something felt wrong.

It was then that the couple were told Leo did not have a heartbeat during an ultrasound.

"As soon as I saw it, I saw that there was no flicker. So I sort of said to [the nurse] 'there's no heartbeat, is there'," she said.

"And she just said 'no, unfortunately there's no heartbeat'.

"I can't even remember the moments that followed … I couldn't cry, I was just in complete shock."

Sloane says he 'didn't know how to feel'

Sloane said he and Belinda were able to spend a day and a half with Leo before making the decision to cremate him and keep his ashes.

Then came the hardest part: saying goodbye.

"That moment was one of the most heartbreaking moments, just watching our son being taken away to a funeral home to be cremated before he's had a real crack at life," Sloane said.

"I didn't know how to feel, I didn't know what to do, I didn't know how to help Belinda, which was one of my biggest concerns."

Rory Sloane posted this photo of his stillborn son Leo Rory Sloane on Instagram last year. ( Instagram: rorysloane )

He said the couple then began counselling sessions and had a lot of support from family and friends, which had helped them grieve together and in their own way.

In a caption accompanying the post, Sloane said he and Belinda had "learnt so many valuable lessons from our gorgeous Leo".

"He continues to shape the people we are today," Sloane wrote.

"Our hope is that by sharing his story with the world, we can raise awareness and funds to reduce stillbirth rates within Australia."

The couple are not the only AFL couple to have experienced the loss of a baby in recent times.

Last year, the Crows requested privacy on behalf of Taylor Walker and wife Ellie after the loss of their unborn baby.

Geelong and former Sydney player Gary Rohan and his wife Amie announced in April last year that one of their twin baby girls died shortly after her birth, due to a fatal neural tube defect known as anencephaly.

Jarrad McVeigh of the Sydney Swans also lost his baby girl Luella, who died in hospital after serious heart complications in 2011.