'My six babies died... now Wales must strive to reduce infant loss'

LIKE all mothers-to-be, when Jessica Sims found out she was pregnant in 2010 she experienced many different feelings - panic, worry, hope and joy.

- JONATHON HILL

> Jessica Sims has lost all six of her babies and is now speaking to raise awareness of baby deaths across the country > Jessica joins parents today in a plea for action > Baby Megan-Jayne died days after she was born

(Jessica Sims)

Her baby was much longed for, because it was her fifth pregnancy, but none of her other four babies had survived.

Megan-Jayne was born in 2010, but she died when she was just 12 days old.

Jessica went on to suffer another miscarriage following the loss of her daughter, and it was only then that she managed to get answers about what was happening.

Jessica lost her first baby in 1996 after a medical termination and went on to lose five more children before tests revealed her body was attacking foetal tissue.

Ms Sims, 46, from Bridgend, said she wished she'd been able to have the tests earlier to save her “so much heartache”.

She said she felt she had no “practical support” for her poor mental health during those 14 years of loss. She has spoken out as child bereavement charity Sands calls on the Welsh Government to do more to try to negate babies’ deaths in Wales, where statistics are worse when compared to the rest of the UK.

Sands is asking the Welsh Government to set targets to reduce baby deaths in the country by 2035.

Ms Sims told the Western Mail: “My first loss was in 1996, which was a medical termination. I had my son Jack, who was stillborn, in 1999. Then Summer-Louise in 2002 was stillborn. Then I had a miscarriage in 2006 and Megan-Jayne died at 12 days old in 2010. Then I had another miscarriage following losing Megan-Jayne.

“For the majority of that time I felt like I had no support,” she said.

Describing how she felt as she kept trying and kept losing her babies, she recalled: “It’s horrible - really isolating. Honestly, I felt alone and I felt the way I was treated by the hospitals contributed to that.