Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

On 30th December 2018, 5 months pregnant, I was admitted to hospital with high blood pressure. Little did we know what was to follow. Over the next 24 hours, I developed the most severe case of HELLP Syndrome the hospital had ever seen. In order to save my life, I was rushed into theatre for an emergency c-section.

Our beautiful daughter, Georgina Robyn Findlay, was born at 02.11am on New Year’s Day and Tom and I held her for the precious 3 hours and 21 minutes that she lived.

I spent some time in intensive care but, as I was still not well enough to go home, I was transferred back to the labour ward where they could continue to treat my condition. This also allowed us to spend some time with Georgina, which would not have been possible on a regular ward.

As you can imagine, this was not an ideal place for grieving parents but there was no other choice. Despite the hospital’s best efforts, the first room I stayed in, which was used because it was as far away from the delivery rooms as possible, was enormous, empty and very draughty and only added to my despair. I spent the night crying in the cold. We were then moved to another, better room but this was closer to the delivery rooms so we spent the following three days listening to women in labour and babies crying.

I cannot fault the hospital, the doctors or the frankly incredible midwives who looked after us. These people are my heroes. However, even they admitted that the rooms were not ideal for people in our situation, however hard they tried.

Whilst the room undoubtedly needs medical equipment, it also needs to feel less clinical and more comfortable - comfortable chairs or a sofa for visitors, a proper bed for the partner to stay (my 6’3” husband slept on a fold out camp bed) a small kitchen area, a TV, and most importantly soundproofing - there is no sound more torturous to grieving parents than the cry of a newborn when your precious baby will never make a sound.

As a starting point, Tom and I, and my sister Justine, will be taking part in the Leeds 10K on 7 July 2019 so please donate whatever you can and help us bring some good out of this situation. All the money raised will be donated to The Barnet Hospital Charity Fund 336 Bereavement Services. The generous collections already received from friends and colleagues will be added to this page.

We can’t change what has happened to us but, in Georgina’s name, we can give back to the hospital who looked after us so well and raise money to help properly furnish a suitable bereavement room for other parents who might find themselves in the same unfortunate position as us.

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