'Sylvie was stillborn. It was tough to hear other babies cry'

It is seven years since Juliet O'Sullivan's baby daughter, Sylvie, was stillborn, but she still recalls every harrowing detail.

The mum-of-four from Brough, East Yorkshire, was 38 weeks pregnant when she went into labour at home.

"I realised I could see an umbilical cord, so we called the hospital and I could hear the panic in their voices."

Juliet was rushed to Hull Women and Children's Hospital by ambulance. A consultant confirmed her baby no longer had a heartbeat, but said she had to deliver naturally.

The hospital's bereavement suite was being used, so Juliet gave birth on the labour ward, alongside other mums.

"It was not so bad when I was in labour," she said, struggling to hold back tears.

"But when Sylvie had been born, there was this deathly silence, and then it just gets interrupted with these sounds.

"It's quite harrowing listening to other women, that you're now quite envious of, in so much pain, but then that sound of a baby, as it should be, crying its eyes out. It's a tough, tough pill to swallow."

But the most difficult experience was yet to come, as Juliet and her partner, Luke, took the lift down from the maternity unit.

"We could see two couples walking towards the lift. They had car seats, both with baby girls in, and 'it's a girl' balloons. Luke and I just had a little box with handprints in and just had to share that lift.

"That incident will probably live with me as the most harrowing part of the entire experience."

Determined that other grieving parents should not have to go through the same, Juliet is fundraising for the WISHH charity, which needs £100,000 to refurbish the bereavement suite.

"It's somewhat dated. We described it as like an old Travelodge room."

"But like Luke and I said, you could make it like the Ritz and it would still be the worst room you've ever been in in your life."

On Sunday, Juliet completed the Paris marathon in four hours and 44 minutes, carrying a lock of Sylvie's hair.

She has raised more than £16,400 towards the WISHH fund, to help pay to soundproof the bereavement suite and create a separate exit for parents who have suffered miscarriage or stillbirth.

"Hearing babies crying is the worst thing to have to hear when you've just had that silent labour," Juliet says.

"They're looking to soundproof the walls, so that's another thing women going through loss don't have to experience.

"But it's the separate entrances for me that's the real the deal sealer. Everyone that's been through this knows it would have such a positive impact if there was a way to exit that hospital without having to pass a plethora of pregnant women, because that loss just gets reinforced."

The WISHH charity, which supports Hull hospitals, says that while nothing can take away the pain of a miscarriage, pregnancy loss, stillbirth or neonatal death, "we hope to be able to make a difficult time just that little bit easier".

"The experiences of local families and feedback from staff have been used to shape plans which will ultimately create facilities which are better suited to their purpose and offer a more sensitive and considerate experience for families using them," the charity adds.

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