Mum's baby joy after stillbirth and miscarriages

A mum is speaking out about her complicated fertility journey which has included three miscarriages and one stillbirth in the last 12 years.

Georgina Gale, 32, from Wythenshawe, Manchester, said she had always wanted to be a mother but after trying unsuccessfully for almost seven years said her hope of having a baby was "absolutely destroyed".

Ms Gale said it was an "amazing feeling" to finally become a mum in 2018.

She has since welcomed two more healthy babies and has praised a specialised maternity bereavement service for helping her through such a difficult time.

Ms Gale said she first became pregnant in 2011 at the age of 19.

But after losing weight during the pregnancy, tests showed that her unborn son, who she named Jacob, was found to be suffering with hydrops fetalis – a rare life-threatening condition that causes abnormal amounts of fluid to develop in the baby's bloodstream.

Jacob was given a 1% chance of survival and was born sleeping on 31 January 2012.

“Looking back now, I was really young, and I don’t know how I dealt with it emotionally," Ms Gale said.

"Because I had never been pregnant before, I didn’t know any different and I didn’t know what to base my feelings on."

Then in 2016 , Georgina had an early miscarriage at six weeks, followed by another a year later, at 14 weeks.

After her third unsuccessful pregnancy, medics conducted testing where they identified the baby she had lost, who Ms Gale named Addalyn, had Turner syndrome – a female only genetic disorder that affects 1 in 2,000 baby girls.

“The tests showed there was no reason for this to be happening to me, that they were just flukes, and I was unlucky," Ms Gale said.

"Being a mum was all I ever wanted, but this was now my third pregnancy, so I was absolutely destroyed."

After becoming pregnant again in September 2017, Georgina was referred to the Rainbow Clinic, based at Wythenshawe Hospital - a service which helps women who have experienced a stillbirth or neonatal death, through their subsequent pregnancies.

Ms Gale said she was "very worried and anxious" and "terrified" at every single scan but that staff listened and understood "exactly what I was going through".

In March 2018, Georgina gave birth to her a baby girl, named Harper.

“It was an amazing feeling to finally become a mum," she said.

Georgina welcomed her second child, Romie, in February 2019 and after meeting her partner Johnny, made the decision to have a third.

In April 2023 she suffered another early miscarriage but by February was pregnant again.

Her baby boy, Jesse, was born in October – 12 years after Georgina lost Jacob.

She said after years of "stress" she now wants to "enjoy motherhood".

“I’m just so lucky to have three healthy, perfect children and even though it’s been a long and hard journey, I’d do it all again for them,” she added.

If you or someone you know has been affected by issues with pregnancy, visit BBC Action Line for information and support.

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