'Being in a room with people who who get it makes you feel seen and heard - you're all in the same boat'

Losing a child is a traumatic experience but support is available for those who have undergone it. Thomas Cooper meets one of the driving forces behind Baby Loss Awareness Week in the Potteries

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IN MEMORIAM: The ribbons outside the Civic Centre pay tribute to about 200 babies.

IT'S eight years since every expectant mum's nightmare became a reality for 38-year-old Samantha Jackson.

“One of my children was born still and the other survived for 20 minutes,” she says of the loss of twins Marius and Ariya following a preterm labour in 2017.

“It was really tough. And it still is - it’s something that stays with you.”

That experience is why Samantha has become one of the driving forces behind Baby Loss Awareness Week in North Staffordshire.

The national event, which ends today, is a chance for families to mourn and pay respects to loved ones who left us too soon. It was first held in 2002, but not in Stoke-on-Trent until 2022 when groups across the Potteries joined forces.

Samantha, of Bucknall, knows just how vital it is to find support from others.

She said: “After I lost the twins, I went to the bereavement nurses at the UHNM for support, and it all kind of spiralled from there. I went to my first support group session around four months afterwards.

“Then I started going every month thereafter. It’s led me to the position I am today.”