The former Love Island winner, Jessica Hayes suffered a heartbreaking miscarriage last year when she was 19-weeks pregnant, mere days after she excitedly announced to the world that she was expecting her second child.
Now, months later, the 27-year-old has decided to share her story in order to raise awareness for late miscarriages, which is something every 1 in 100 people experience.
“These have been the hardest months of my life, but being a mum to Presley has helped get me through losing Teddy,” Jessica said when speaking to New Magazine, referring to her 19-month-old son Presley, and her miscarried baby whom she sweetly named Teddy.
Going on to share her baby loss story, every mother’s worst nightmare, Jessica recalls the experience, which happened just a few days after her exciting pregnancy reveal. “Then a few days later I was relaxing on the sofa and noticed that I’d started bleeding. I knew it was strange and a warning sign. But I was halfway through my pregnancy and presumed I was safe,” she explained.
“I didn’t panic but rang the hospital and they asked me to come in to check me over. With coronavirus, it was a nightmare, so they asked me to get an ambulance. But I wanted to make my own way with Dan.”
When Jessica arrived at the hospital with her fiancé Dan Lawry, the pair were told that Dan was not allowed to come inside with her. “So I was on my own when they checked the baby’s heartbeat, which was fine. I was panicking but trying to stay as calm as possible.”
“They asked me to stay in for the night so they could monitor me — I felt fine. They kept checking Teddy and there was nothing wrong with him. So at first, I was quite relaxed. They just couldn’t explain where the bleeding was coming from.”
“Then I was watching Netflix when my waters broke. I tried to get up but fell to the floor. I knew it was bad. I rang for the doctors and nurses, who started checking to see if I was going to go into labour.”
“I was taken to the delivery suite because they were expecting me to give birth. I called Dan at that point, which I was so grateful for. Because it was such a bad situation, he was allowed to come and sit with me,” Jessica recalled.
“I was bleeding so badly and it just wouldn’t stop. By then I knew the inevitable was happening. I couldn’t drink, eat or sleep. I was in such a bad way. In the morning, they scanned me. He still had a heartbeat but no water surrounding him.”
“I was still bleeding so much, there was blood everywhere. By this point, they just had to get him out. So they had to induce me to go into labour. It was a really long wait, about 12 hours. I had some pain relief and then... I had him,” Jessica bravely explained.
Since announcing the heartbreaking news that she lost her baby boy, Jessica has been inundated with messages of support and love from other mums who have gone through something similar.
If you have experienced a baby loss and are seeking support, please feel free to reach out to one or more of these helplines and services: The Miscarriage Association of Ireland, Pregnancy & Infant Loss Ireland Support Groups, sands.org.uk.
