Amelia Grant, of Milton, Cambridge, first became pregnant at the age of 29 in 2009 but she suffered from severe preeclampsia (a condition which can causes complications for baby and mother during the second half of pregnancy) and her son Billy was delivered by emergency caesarean at just 30 weeks old.
After five weeks of intensive care, Amelia and her baby returned home.
In 2011, Amelia fell pregnant again and was monitored closely by consultants and midwives at The Rosie in Cambridge.
But at 38 weeks, she and partner Ben were told there was no foetal heartbeat and Amelia would have to be induced to give birth to her baby.
On August 9, 2012, Amelia gave birth to her stillborn baby daughter Isabelle Neve Grant.
Amelia said: “She looked absolutely perfect. Everyone at The Rosie was fantastic and we had some precious time with our baby in privacy.
“We were also able to have a blessing and a naming ceremony for Isabelle, and those moments meant a lot to me and Ben.”
In early 2012, the couple were put in touch with the newly formed specialist perinatal counselling service Petals, set up by Karen Burgess, which now operates from the Jane Thorley Counselling Suite at The Rosie.
Amelia added: “There was a lot of help and support offered to both Ben and I after Isabelle died and within the first couple of months I went to my GP when the grief became too difficult.
“My sessions with Karen helped a great deal and I am still so thankful for all her support. We are enormously lucky to have such a life-changing service available in this region. I feel counselling has been paramount in helping me gain strength, and given me a little more understanding into what we suffered as a family as well as what I went through as a mother.”
In November 2012, Amelia was pregnant again and Petals continued running sessions during that time. In July, Esme was born without any complications.
Amelia added: “I hope that by sharing my story I can help other families who have suffered a similar trauma and I see this as an opportunity to pay tribute in memory to our beautiful Isabelle.”
Karen said: “It was a privilege to work with Amelia. She had been through two highly traumatic pregnancies. Through sessions she worked really hard to restore her emotional health and made great progress, it gives me fulfilment and pleasure to see her and her husband so happy with Billy and Esme.”
This article appeared in the Cambridge News on Thursday 27 March, 2014.
Amelia has also set up a fundraising page in memory of her daughter https://www.bmycharity.com/Isabelle
Update Thursday 10 July 2014
Amelia sent us a #thank you message via our Facebook page to encourage others to vote for us in the National Lottery Awards. Â This award would allow us to spread the word and help with our aim to provide this counselling to women and couples across the country. To vote please click here, or phone 0844 836 9702
Amelia said:
“I will be forever grateful to Petals for all your support. Thank you to my wonderful counsellor who helped me come to terms with my grief at the loss of my baby. You were there for me with your gentle compassion and understanding during the most toughest moments of my grief and my most fearful moments during another pregnancy. You helped me to find the strength to cope and move forward within my life. Thank you so much.”
