Mum’s mission to help others
Sam spurred on after miscarriage
A DETERMINED mum who lost her baby girl through a late miscarriage has donated pamper packs to families going through a similar trauma.
Sam Iliffe and her husband Gareth were distraught when they lost their daughter Poppy at 21 weeks in January last year.
But the Burbage couple were determined to use their heartwrenching experience to help others.
They launched a fundraising campaign in March to create toiletry packs with personalised messages for mothers staying at George Eliot Hospital’s maternity ward.
After a series of events, including a Wolf Run, Sam and friends delivered more than 100 pamper packs and 80 blankets to the hospital last month.
She also raised £825 for a “fantastic” Warwickshire-based group called Sophia Pregnancy Loss Support.
The mum-of-two said: “It was a bitter sweet day being back at the hospital in the same room where I gave birth to our beautiful daughter Poppy.
“Thank you to everyone who donated money or knitted a blanket and for the little notes that Vicky Marsh and her mum Linda Marsh donated. None of this could have been done without your help and generosity.
“A massive thank you to my husband Gareth and my amazing friends Debra Prosser and Kerry Haywood for supporting me through this journey.”
The 30-year-old also aims to “break the silence” of late miscarriages.
She said: “This year, like every other, thousands of parents will go through an experience which is almost beyond description.
“Months of pregnancy and long hours of nurturing and hope will end with a late miscarriage like me, or a stillbirth for some.
“They will find there is no birth or death certificate, there will be little recognition of any kind, and only a note in the medical records.
“To lose a baby is a terrible sadness, to find your child disregarded, barely a statistic even, is particularly distressing.
“So I wanted to make a difference and hopefully break the silence of late miscarriages and get more support for ladies who go through a similar ordeal.”