In June 2024, sadly myself and my partner had the heartbreaking news at just over 39 weeks pregnant and a straight forward pregnancy, that our baby had no heartbeat

I was induced into labour 48 hours later and 3 days before our due date, after a 16 hour labour we met our baby for the first time, and found out we’d had a little boy who we named Stanley.

The 2 midwives who supported us at Jessops to deliver Stanley were the most incredible women we have probably ever met. The most kind, compassionate and caring people who made us feel safe and loved under the most awful circumstances.

We loved every minute of the time we got to spend with our baby boy and is time that we will both cherish forever. This is all down to the bereavement staff at Jessops Hospital giving us space to be a family until we said our final goodbye.

Although I have always been an active person, and remained active throughout my pregnancy; having to recover physically from a full term pregnancy and a natural birth, whilst navigating the grief of not having my baby boy with me has been horrendous. I have needed a lot of support and encouragement to find my confidence with re-engaging with physical activity.

During this time my brother (Ben) had the wild idea of me and him training to cycle across the country on a tandem….and he actually went through with buying a tandem!!

I am not a cyclist, have no desire to ever be a cyclist and have not ridden a bike for possibly 25 years, so this most definitely has been and will be a big challenge for me!!

Our training was put on hold for a couple of months, as in November 2024 I was diagnosed with a rare eye cancer, and 2025 started with a round of radiation.

An eye tumour and cancer diagnosis is not going to stop us though, and in my little Stanley’s memory we will be cycling (on a tandem bicycle) 180 miles across the country with the aim of raising money for the Sheffield Hospitals Charity; specifically to support and help to improve the bereavement services and facilities at Jessops.

Statistics show that, 1 in every 250 babies are born sleeping (stillborn), and 3 of every 1000 babies born alive sadly die under 28 days of age. It is therefore likely, that myself and my partner Joe will not be the last bereaved parents in South Yorkshire who have to make the soul destroying walk out of Jessops without their baby or babies.

Unfortunately our NHS budgets don’t always go very far, and our hope is that we can raise some money to support our Jessops bereavement services and their facilities to continue improving and to continue the wonderful work they do.

Any donation no matter how small will be so incredibly helpful to support bereaved parents who are not able to take their children home with them.

Thank you for taking the time to read our story x