The mums determined to break the stigma of baby loss

A mother-of-four has described the heartbreak she felt after having multiple miscarriages – as a new service was rolled out to support families experiencing baby loss.
Zoe Wise, 32, from St Ives in Cambridgeshire, has gone through seven pregnancies, but three of those times ended in miscarriage.
She told ITV News of the pain and isolation she felt and the lack of support she received. 
“It was so lonely,” she said. “There was nothing to help you. Everything was all in the same places.
“So where the ladies were finding out that their babies were nice and healthy, you were walking through crying while everyone else was happy. It’s soul-destroying,” Ms Wise said.
It was a similar experience for 29-year-old Laura Thompson from St Ives.
The mother-of-two had a miscarriage before having her first daughter Lily, but it was not until after her birth that she was diagnosed with anxiety and post-traumatic stress disorder from her loss. 
“Every time I went to the toilet, I was checking for blood, I was panicking.
“I was paying for extra scans early on because for every milestone I felt I had to just double check, double check,” Mrs Thompson said.
“It was absolutely gruelling. But I just felt that that was probably normal and nobody told me otherwise. So there was no help offered or no support.  It was so difficult for me to talk about.”
Mrs Thompson has now set up an online support group on Facebook called “St Ives Baby Loss Support Page” for people who have experienced losses.
“I was quite young, so I didn’t really know much about miscarriage,” she said.
“It wasn’t spoken about. You don’t learn about school, so it was nothing that I had anticipated. And it really hit me hard and I really, really struggled mentally with it,” she said.
According to the NHS, many losses happen before someone knows they are pregnant. 
It comes as a new service is being rolled out in Cambridgeshire to support people severely affected by baby loss. 
The Perinatal Trauma and Loss Service (PTLS) will offer specialist midwifery support and psychological help to those who have been left with complex mental health difficulties from losing a baby. 
The support is for anyone who has experienced a loss in the past two years. 
Dr Jo Peterkin, a consultant clinical psychologist with the team said: “The psychologist will be able to offer assessment and psychological interventions that suit the women’s particular needs. 
“We’ve got some fantastic specialist midwives who will be able to help us understand a little bit more about some of the maternity experiences that people might have been through.
“They’ll also be in a great position to support those women who maybe have been through a loss, who [became] pregnant again.” 
The service covers Cambridge and Ely but will be rolled out to Huntingdon, Peterborough and Fenland in the new year.
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