On 30/06/22 I gave birth to a sleeping angel. Charlie Fredrick Reeves. My other children got to hold their baby brother and say goodbye, however a void will always remain in a family who cannot register their child's birth. The finance was immense as all money was invested in baby items purchased for his arrival. Never would of we imagined we would be preparing for his funeral, not his birth. Despite the current law being a baby born before 24 weeks is not classed as a still birth, I still had to give birth and do what all other mums have to do during labour, only afterwards they would have the joy of taking their baby home. We haven't even got a birth certificate to look at with his name to show the children as they grow up their brother was here. 

The added grief actually comes from the classification of the birth of my fully formed baby being classified as a late miscarriage. Despite him having everything another baby does, he was just smaller and needed more time to grow. He was born at 20 weeks, the current law is 24 weeks for the title 'still born' and the seriousness of that word and what that family has been threw. If my baby was born 4 weeks later my family would of had more of a right to grieve due to the current law. 

The added pain felt when you see another family with their live newborn is indescribable and had me an emotional wreck each time I came to visit my little one. 

The care I received in hospital really was fantastic at this traumatic time. However, if there was a maternity unit specifically for women in the same situation this could benefit families in the same situation as us to reduce the added trauma. 

We would like support as a family to petition this due to our and many other families experience and create a culture of enhanced support, a different maternity wing specifically for families in the same situation during this traumatic time and the right to register our childs birth!