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Town's baby loss memorial success is 'bittersweet'

Laura Thompson Laura Thompson standing in front of railings. She is on the far right of the image, her hair is back, she is wearing a blue T-shirt and a black top and looking towards the camera. On the cream metal railings to her left are tied blue and pink ribbons, each with writing on themLaura Thompson
Laura Thompson organised the display after she experienced a miscarriage six years ago

The success of a town's first baby loss memorial has been "bittersweet", the organiser has said.

Laura Thompson, 29, from St Ives, Cambridgeshire, created the week-long display after she experienced a miscarriage six years ago.

More than 60 babies were remembered, including one that died in 1975, and another a week before the memorial began.

Mrs Thompson said a regular memorial was needed in St Ives and she hoped it would become an annual event.

Laura Thompson Cream railings in front of St Ives Methodist Church. Tied to the railings are blue and pink ribbons, each with writing on them. There is also a sign saying Baby Loss WeekLaura Thompson
The display was on railings outside St Ives Methodist Church

"It went really, really well but it was really bitter sweet," said the mother-of-two, who works at the Cambridgeshire Maternity Voices Partnership.

"The more ribbons we added, the more babies had been lost, but the more people got to commemorate that loss - so in one way I was pleased, in another sad."

The display ran between 9-15 October and allowed people to write a memory or message on a ribbon.

Three of the messages read: "It was just over 30 years ago, but it something you never forget", "somewhere I can go to remember my baby" and "21 years after losing her and finally it feels as though her life existed".

'Multitude of tiny hearts'

The display coincided with Baby Loss Awareness Week which supports and unites bereaved parents and families. It also raises awareness of pregnancy and baby loss.

According to the NHS, about one in eight known pregnancies ends in miscarriage - while pregnancy loss after 24 weeks, known as stillbirth, happens in about one in every 250 births in England.

Chaplains at Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon also marked the week with separate events and short services.

Peterborough chaplain Sally Smith: "A multitude of tiny hearts were filled with messages from parents placed on the displays and also hung on the trees of light in the chapels.

"People stopped to ask what Baby Loss Awareness Week was about, and also to share their own stories, which was very powerful."

NHS North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust A small remembrance tree covered in fairy lights and flowers. It is indoors and perched on a small stool with a basket with heart shaped paper petals, ready for people to write onNHS North West Anglia NHS Foundation Trust
Hearts were hung from small trees at Peterborough City Hospital and Hinchingbrooke Hospital in Huntingdon

An annual baby loss awareness service was also held at Peterborough Cathedral.

Mrs Thompson said Baby Loss Awareness Week was an annual event in her home town of St Neots.

"I'm hoping this will become an annual event [in St Ives] too and with a church service," she added.

"There is definitely an ask for it."

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