'Baby loss can leave you feeling incredibly alone'

A woman from Devon who lost three babies this year said that raising awareness of baby loss "puts that little bit of my heart back together".

Tamsin Field, from Torbay, lost her son Oscar - who was stillborn - in February.

In June she lost her twins, who were found to have no heartbeat after a scan.

She said helping others has helped her through her losses, and in October she completed a skydive to raise money for Torbay Hospital.

Ms Field said she found out she had lost her son Oscar when she was having a scan.

"We were looking at baby which was lovely, and then they switched the monitor off.

"In that moment I knew something was quite seriously wrong.

"Then I heard the words 'I'm sorry, there's no heartbeat'.

"In that moment I wish my heart stopped beating too."

She said she was in "complete shock".

"I remember I stuck my head under a blanket when he was born and shut my eyes and closed the world out.

"There's something really haunting when you give birth to your baby but the only cry you hear in the room is your own."

Ms Field said she was able to hold Oscar, and said she "felt peace".

"This whole feeling of peace and calmness came over me, the tears stopped and I just felt ok."

She said: "Instead of carrying my newborn baby in a car seat I was carrying a box of keepsakes with handprints and footprints and his blanket."

Ms Field, who has two children, said baby loss is something that is "not spoken about enough".

"It can leave you feeling incredibly alone, it can change you as a person.

"What helped me was helping others."

A week after Oscar died, she booked a skydive to raise money for Torbay Hospital.

She raised more than £3,000 which will go towards buying a new cuddle cot which allows grieving families to hold their baby in their arms.

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