Meet the mums fighting for help and support for baby loss
Last updated 14th Oct 2021
Two mothers from Northern Ireland have turned their pain of losing a child in to helping other parents in the same position.
Downtown Radio & Cool FM spoke to Ellie Goan and Laura Kelly, to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week 2021.
Ellie's story
Ellie Goan, 37, is Northern Ireland's first ambassador for the charity CRADLE.
It supports women, partners, surrogates and intended parents affected by pregnancy loss before the 24th week.
CRADLE provides a range of early pregnancy loss resources to healthcare professionals, which are made available to bereaved parents during their hospital appointments or care.
The resources – which include comfort bags of toiletries, outpatient and antenatal appointment packs – reflect the physical needs of women during their experience of pregnancy loss in a hospital or clinic setting.
She campaigned for the charity to be brought in to the Belfast Trust after losing two babies.
Ellie said: "In between the birth of my two daughters I had 2 miscarriage's. my are was good but the follow up support was lacking.
"There was nothing for me when I went through my miscarriages. Over the years I've been aware of Baby Loss Awareness Week and other charities.
"I heard about CRADLE and thought it would be perfect to bring to Northern Ireland, so I started in the Belfast Trust in March and have just launched in the Southern Trust.
"It's good to see that the support is finally coming, it's getting there."
The charity relies on donations from the public. Please click here if you would like to donate.
Laura's story
Laura Kelly lost her one-week-old son, Cormac, back in 2017.
The Tyrone mum told us her feeling of loss, sadness and isolation after his death.
Laura then recieved on of Aching Arms bears in the post, something she said helped her through the extremely difficult journey.
She now is one of three volunteers who have brought the charity and its bears to Northern Ireland.
Aching Arms supports parents who experience the death of their baby during pregnancy, birth or soon after.
The charity provide bears for parents as a comforter to hold, lets parents know they are not alone and directs them to support agencies who can help in the devastating days, weeks, months and years after their loss.
Laura told us why she wanted to help.
"It certainly acknowledges the loss that you have went through. You can't hug items that you normally get like leaflets or memory boxes. I remember when my bear first came through the post I hugged it for a week solid. It really helped me get through one of the most difficult times of my life.
"You have this bear that you can hug, you can pour your pain and sorrow, but also your love that should be giving your child. It doesn't take away the pain, but it helps."
“Especially now with Covid, you can’t just go to your friend for a cuddle and you can’t go to your mum or your dad or your siblings.
“But you are not on your own because there are so many charities doing amazing work and there are so many families who have gone through it.”
Support links
If you want to find out more information about the charities and how to donate, please click the links below: