Poignant service held to remember Wigan's lost babies

A mum who gave birth to her daughters at 22 weeks has spoken at a special service to help other bereaved parents remember their babies.
Michaela Taylor, left, and Rebecca Outterside, right, with Chaplains Michele Ryan and Deborah CooperMichaela Taylor, left, and Rebecca Outterside, right, with Chaplains Michele Ryan and Deborah Cooper
Michaela Taylor, left, and Rebecca Outterside, right, with Chaplains Michele Ryan and Deborah Cooper

Rebecca Outterside returned to Wigan Infirmary where her identical twin baby girls, Georgina Elizabeth (Georgie) and Harriette Rose (Hattie) were born, to take part in the service held during Baby Loss Awareness Week, sharing two poems which she dedicated to the girls at their funeral service, almost a year since they were born.

Rebecca, who along with her husband, Tom, recently helped to refurbish Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh NHS Foundation Trust’s Pearl Suite with donations following their loss, said: “Not only do I wish to remember Georgina and Harriette at this service, but all of the other babies who are no longer here.

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“I also wish to remember their parents who have been through the worst experience that a parent could ever go through, and make them aware that they are not alone.”

Rebecca added: “One really important piece of advice that I would give to a family going through a similar experience is to ask questions.

“Asking questions is extremely difficult at the early stages of pregnancy loss but I really feel that it helps with the acceptance, whilst also allowing you to think ahead to the future, hopefully a brighter and more positive future.”

Also reading at the service was Michaela Taylor, who recently wrote on open letter to the Trust via her blog (www.thevalleyofdaffodils.co.uk) to praise the way in which midwives helped her and her husband following the loss of their son, Zachary.

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In it, Michaela wrote: “This woman may never know the impact that she had on me, or how she changed my life in one of the hardest seasons I’ve ever faced.

“She may never know that she went above and beyond her job description that day. She may never know that I felt empathy.

“She may never know that when she held my hand, she held my shattered heart. To her, I may just be another woman in a tragic situation, but to me, she is one of my heroes.”

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