I already had a daughter so when I found out I was pregnant with my second child I could not have been happier our family was to be complete. Apart from aches and pains my pregnancy was pretty uneventful until the day of Aiden's birth.

I had a sweep in the morning and by late afternoon I was in labour I was coping well with the pain but it was becoming a little overwhelming so I had a pain killing injection. After that I just felt quite calm until all of a sudden the pains became strong, stronger than I had felt in my previous birth and something just didn’t feel right.

I was taken to the labour suite and things moved so quickly it was more than a labour pain it was more intense and I knew something wasn’t right. After a really traumatic experience Aiden was born by c section unable to breath and was resuscitated and taken to intensive care. Later that day we were told that my uterus had ruptured and Aiden had not been delivered in time and his brain had been starved of oxygen. Just over 6 hours after he was born we had to make the decision to turn off his life support machine.

I still think of Aiden's birth every day not being able to bring him home has changed who I am I’m here I live I breath I function but I’m not the me I once was and I don’t want to be. We had our whole life planned out with him in it and we had to come to terms with a new life now a new way of coping.

7 years down the line and Aiden is such a big part of our lives still we miss him so much but we cope by keeping his memory alive in all that we do.

In those early days Sands was such a big part of my recovery I still attend meetings now and I don’t think I could have got through it with out their support.

What they do for families dealing with a loss is so important they are that lifeline you need to learn how to function in your new normal. Me and my family will always be so grateful