Hiya everyone!

I am running the Royal Parks half marathon in October 2025 and the London Landmarks in April 2026 - for Tommy's charity in memory of my firstborn son Harry who was stillborn in August 2016. I have always openly talked about what happened and will continue to share our story to not just raise awareness and funds but it also keeps our Harry with us too. You might want to grab a cuppa for this as its a bit of a long read but here we go, please bear in mind I could not go into full blown detail into this, so it has been "shortened down" to some extent.

My waters broke when I was 26 + 2 weeks, and was admitted into hospital where I was given an IV with fluid and antibiotics to treat Strep B, soon after I was transferred to another hospital because the one I was admitted to did not have the facilities to accommodate such a premature baby.

Once I was transferred, all IV treatment was taken away as I was told I was not in active labour, even though I was told by midwives previously that I needed to have antibiotics as soon as my waters brake to protect the baby.

I was in hospital for just under a week, every day a different consultant would see me to discuss options of delivery and what would happen in the neonatal department after, but the conversation would end the same way "you don't need antibiotics and we will scan you tomorrow".

In the very early hours of 2nd August 2016 I was experiencing excruciating pain, the staff on duty that night saw me as a panicky first time mum and didn't take me seriously. This went on for for what felt like hours until the midwife came and saw me and called for the consultant on duty. They rushed me next door in to the delivery sweet, the room was filled with midwives trying to cannulate me to give me antibiotics and fluids, that's when the consultant finally scanned me but had to ask another consultant give a second opinion on the scan. After the scan had been done the doctor walked behind my bed and gestured that our baby had died by waving his hand in front of his neck. The room fell silent, and one by one staff had left, leaving just one midwife, myself and Joe (my partner).

Although I couldn't see the gesture being made by the doctor, I could see Joe's reaction and I knew from the look on his face that our baby had died.

It was one of the hardest moments of my life knowing that I had to give birth to our perfect, beautiful baby boy at 27 weeks weighing 1IB 8oz who we could hold for a while but not take home with us.

What a lot of people don't understand when losing a baby, its not a case of "trying for another" you have all them hopes and dreams for your child that gets shattered instantly. All the first milestones you miss, always wondering what they would look like, sound like, what they would be like as a person. That feeling never goes away, We have been blessed with two perfectly healthy children since having Harry but we always talk about him and will always do what we can in his memory to help others as much as we can as we know there are so many people out there that are still struggling.

It's not about living in the past, it's about keeping Harry with us in the present.

Thank you for taking the time to read my story, if you are able to donate to my page even if it is £1 I would greatly appreciate it xx

I’m fundraising for Tommy’s who exist to stop the heartbreak and devastation of baby loss and to make pregnancy and birth safer - for everyone.

Tommy's is dedicated to finding causes and treatments as well as providing trusted pregnancy and baby loss information and support.

Your donation will help find answers, cures and makes breakthroughs happen. Each donation will help take a step closer to saving babies' lives. Thank you.