Burton Latimer parents welcome rainbow baby Amber two years after heartbreaking death of twins

A mum from Burton Latimer has praised KGH's Rainbow Clinic for their support through her pregnancy and birth two years after the loss of her twin girls.

Chloe and Chris Turner welcomed their rainbow baby Amber on June 12 and say the support they had from the clinic was "amazing".

Just over two years ago, on June 3, 2018, their twin girls Alice and Amelia were born prematurely at 24 weeks.

Amelia weighed 1lb at birth and died aged four weeks in Leicester Royal Infirmary. Alice weighed 1lb3oz and died three weeks later at Birmingham Children's Hospital.

Chloe said: "Pregnancy after loss is the most anxious thing I have ever done, but we managed to get through it and she's here now. It's a huge positive after everything that happened."

A rainbow pregnancy is a term used by many families to describe a pregnancy following a pregnancy loss or neonatal death.

Chloe said: "After everything with Alice and Amelia they did say we would have consultant led care (in future pregnancies) and about a month before we got in touch with this pregnancy, they told us they had started the Rainbow Clinic.

"We were treated through that and it was fantastic, there was somebody to call whenever you needed it for reassurance."

Chloe said it was really important to her that doctors and midwives would refer to Alice and Amelia and knew her history, as she had past experiences where her experience was described as a miscarriage.

She said: "That's quite stressful when you're like, 'no, it's not a miscarriage'."

Chloe said the team really focused on how she was feeling. She added: "They would always as questions like, 'how are you mentally, how are you coping, is there anything we can do?'

"Even to the point where you get your standard scans, but because we delivered the girls at 24 weeks, I was so anxious and we were going to book a private scan and we told them and they said, 'we will do it here for you'.

"Nothing was too much, they were professional but friendly."

Baby Amber, who is now 13-weeks-old, is settling in at home and meeting family and friends after she was born during the lockdown.

Chloe said: "It's like she was never not here.

"She is a very loved and spoiled baby. I think the added effect of not thinking we would ever get this chance means she's even more special."

KGH's Rainbow Clinic is part of its antenatal care and aims to support women and families in subsequent pregnancies following loss.

Chloe and Chris have been involved in helping KGH improve its support for bereaved parents and helped launch KGH's Twinkling Stars appeal last year.

The Twinkling Stars appeal is aiming to raise money to create a new bereavement room, family room, quiet room and office away from the labour ward.

Chris and Chloe helped raise £5,500 by arranging an event called a Charity BASH (Building A Superior Hospital) held in Kettering's Corn Market Hall last October during national baby loss awareness week.

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