Loved to the moon and back CHARMAINE'S TEARS FOR BABY MARAMA

When she looks to the night sky, the girl she lost will always be in her heart

- Rebekah Hebenton

Kiwi rugby star Charmaine Smith has endured one of the greatest heartbreaks a parent can face – the loss of her unborn baby daughter Marama. In the raw months that followed, she found the only thing that made the pain even slightly more bearable was hearing the stories of others who had walked a similar path.

Now, the former Black Fern – who is also a police officer – is sharing her own story, in the hope it might offer comfort to others navigating the same unimaginable grief. “I don’t want to hide Marama – she was a person,” explains Charmaine, who is also mum to four-year-old Amīria with fiancé Tamati Thompson. “And I want people to feel like they can talk about things like this. There’s a stigma around grieving in silence after miscarriage.”

In June, Charmaine, 34, was delighted to find out she was pregnant. The news came during a challenging time with rugby and was a bright spot. Charmaine laughs as she shares how Amīria “manifested” her sibling. “Before we even knew we were pregnant, Amīria was telling people she was a big sister.”