A Tattoo shop in Ipswich is giving free Baby loss tattoos to those who have lost a child
After huge demand last year, they've decided to continue to provide support to the community.
Last updated 13th Oct 2024
A tattoo parlour in Ipswich has been giving away free tattoos for baby loss awareness week.
It started last year as nearly everyone in the studio has been affected by baby loss and they wanted to create something that would support others and give people the space to be able to talk about their own experiences in a safe place.
They are offering footprint tattoos, blue for a boy, pink for a girl, and black if they don't know the gender.
We spoke to Paul Stansby and Jamie Hart, tattoo artists there who have both experienced baby loss themselves, they shared their stories with us.
Paul: "I had twins, we knew there was another baby in there but they didn't know until towards the end, and then when Destiny (his daughter) was born they were both there, and they were both born dead and they only managed to save one of them."
"Whenever you have a baby you're ready to start life, you've got the fear of becoming a parent, am I going to do it right? I am going to bring them up and I am going to be so protective.
"And then when you get told, your baby's not coming home with you, all of the 9 nine months of build-up, you see your child there - not breathing, you're helpless you feel like a spare part in the room.
"It does put fear into us to want to try again for another baby, or even to see another baby.
"When someone else comes into the studio with babies. You see the look on their faces and you think what if? It really does get you."
Jamie: " We had, what's called a trapped twin pregnancy, which means unfortunately, one of the twins had never fully formed and didn't have a heartbeat.
"The other twin was pumping blood into that twin and making her grow. So we had to have surgery in London where they lasered the umbilical cord to stop and stem the flow of blood into the other baby.
"Everything was going fine up until around 29 weeks. Unfortunately, we were due to have both babies the next week because we were going to be induced and unfortunately the umbilical cords tied and both passed away. That was the hardest thing that's ever happened to me."
Both of them decided to get tattoos to remember the children they had lost.
We asked them what it means to them to see other people coming in and getting these tattoos.
Paul told us that they see hundreds of people queueing out the door and whilst they're waiting they begin talking to each other.
"When you get here it's so empowering because everyone becomes connected."
"We didn't realise how many people it was going to help and at first it was mainly to build morale in the shop with the people there to show that we care and that you're not alone.
"And then it went out to let everyone else know they're not alone and because of that, people now have shared purpose that's what brings us to do it again."
Jamie said that it gives him a good feeling to do something nice.
"Everyone in here is working so hard just to give the free ones out just to give them that empowerment."