A young mum has posted poignant photos of her stillborn baby boy online, to help her cope with the tragic loss. She says sharing the photos helped her “feel like any other mum”.
Emma Fairbarn’s son Flynn was stillborn after the young woman was involved in a car crash. Emma, 21, was 23 weeks pregnant when her car was struck by another vehicle coming out from a side lane.
“I just remember the impact. Both vehicles ended up facing the opposite way around,” the healthcare support worker told WalesOnline.
“I just remember my body feeling like it was on fire. I tried to take my seatbelt off, but I couldn’t move. I was in shock.”
When Emma’s car began to fill with smoke, passers-by helped the young woman to get out.
“I kept on telling people I was pregnant, and they’d ask me whether I was in any pain,” she recalled. “Once the initial shock went, I started getting pain in my hips.”
Emma was concerned for her baby but felt him move when she got into an ambulance to go to the hospital.
At the hospital, doctors couldn’t initially locate the baby’s heartbeat but found it after five minutes. The heartbeat was quite fast so they sent Emma for a scan and some blood tests.
A scan showed the heartbeat was returning to normal, and blood tests showed no signs of internal bleeding. Emma was then transferred to another hospital for overnight observation.
Later, when a midwife came around to check on Emma, the young woman realised something was wrong.
“The midwife came around to do some more checks on me and again listened to the baby’s heartbeat. After half an hour of trying, she couldn’t find one, so I was rushed off to a scan.”
Sadly, hospital staff were unable to find a heartbeat and gave Emma the devastating news that her baby had passed away.
Three days later, Emma gave birth to baby Flynn, who weighed just 1lb 6oz. The hospital provided Emma with a special cuddle cot so she could spend some time with her son.
“I took hundreds of photos. To me, he was the most beautiful baby ever, and I just wanted to share how gorgeous he is with everyone - just like every mum does with their baby,” Emma said.
She later uploaded some photos of Flynn’s hands and feet to Facebook so she could share the precious memories with friends and family. After sharing the photos, Emma was inundated with messages of support from well-wishers.
We are completely heartbroken for Emma and inspired by her courage.
