Families in the Tees Valley urged to light candles in memory of babies who have died
The global 'Wave of Light' event marks the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week
A Teesside woman who set up a charity to support families through baby loss has opened up about her story.
Lottie King from Yarm lost one of her twin boys called Leo in 2015 who died a few hours after he was born at 24 weeks.
She set up Leo's Neonatal to support young women across the Tees Valley who have gone through the same thing.
Lottie said: "It's been a while since my direct experience, but it's not something that ever truly leaves. I think the difficulty came more when I came home, because people often very innocently ask, 'is this your first?' or "how many have you got?' Then you get into a really uncomfortable situation of 'do I explain to this person at the checkout what I've gone through, or do I just say, 'Oh yeah, he's my second,' because my oldest was three.
"From setting up the charity, I've been able to speak about him and his experience and to meet other families who have gone through similar losses, whether a neonatal loss or having a surviving twin. As much as I have been there to hold space for them, it has quietly been quite healing for me at the same time.
"The kids talk about him very openly and freely, and he still has a very real place in the family. I guess he's just here in his own way.
"The toughest thing for us has been that, unfortunately, our commissioned service, our perinatal baby loss service, wasn't recommissioned in the spring. The Tees Valley lost that really crucial service. We were filling that gap for three years, so for us to lose it, we've seen a quite significant impact.
"We do have our 'Her Journey' service, which looks after young women aged 16 to 25. If you're over 25 and you need us, though, we're in a really difficult place with funding and can't take those families. It's been great in one way that these events and these weeks have really opened up the conversation, but then where do these families go?
"If anybody is finding this week heavy, please give yourself some grace. You don't have to take part in everything, and it doesn't mean you love or honour your baby any less if you need to take a break from how heavy this week is."
Families are being encouraged to light a candle tonight at 7pm for an hour in memory of babies who've died as part of the global event 'Wave of Light.' It also marks the end of Baby Loss Awareness Week.