A MOTHER of seven with only two living children said she wants to ‘break the taboo’ of talking about pregnancy loss.

Jessica Chu, who moved to Altarnun from London around six weeks ago, has been fundraising for baby loss charities after five of her babies were lost during pregnancy between five and 15 weeks’ gestation.

She said fundraising, as well as helping to break the taboo of talking about baby loss, ‘have both been ways to cope with the losses and move forward’.

October 15, is International Baby Loss Awareness Day, and Jessica will be setting up a pop up shop in Altarnun Village Hall to sell Forever Living products, with 90% of all profits donated to the charity Towards Tomorrow Together.

Jessica also lent her support to the charity last month by undertaking a skydive from 13,000ft. This raised more than £400 and Jessica wanted to take on the challenge in memory of her son Henry, who she lost three years ago, 15 weeks into her pregnancy.

Recounting the ‘amazing’ skydive, Jessica said: “It was so special. I kind of felt this was my chance to do something for Henry.

“There was a rainbow in the cloud, which I pointed out to the instructor, and said ‘that’s my son’, and he said ‘let’s fly through it’. That was just amazing.”

Jessica had sadly suffered loss before Henry. She said: “It kind of all started in 2008. I very naively got pregnant.

“I had fertility issues and was about to start fertility treatment and found out I was pregnant, so it was a very happy coincidence.”

Jessica had a small bleed eight weeks into the pregnancy, but when she went for a check-up she said ‘they found a heartbeat, said everything was fine, come back in a couple of weeks’.

She added: “I went in, I was 11 weeks — they couldn’t find a heartbeat. That was a huge shock.” Jessica thought this would be a routine check-up, and her husband at the time was not with her when she received the news.

She went on to have two more miscarriages — one later that year in July and another the following February.

After her third miscarriage, Jessica had tests and was found to have the autoimmune condition antiphospholipid syndrome.

She said the condition causes the body to ‘attack’ the developing foetus, as it thinks it is a foreign body. Jessica has to treat this with injections of heparin.

She then fell pregnant with her daughter, Lili, but said: “It was a very stressful time. I didn’t enjoy the pregnancy.”

Lili was born three weeks early, but healthy. Jessica added Lili is now a ‘thriving’ five-and-a-half-year-old.

However, when Lili was nine-months-old, Jessica’s now ex-husband left her. Jessica got together with her best friend — who she said helped each other through tough times — in 2012.

The following year, Jessica fell pregnant, but lost the baby at five weeks.

She said: “One of the things that happens when you lose a baby, you feel like something’s missing and want to be pregnant straight away.

“I fell pregnant quite quickly again. Everything was going well, he was a healthy baby. Then I went in for a routine appointment, and they couldn’t find it [heartbeat].”

She was told it was a ‘bit early’ to find the heartbeat on the Doppler, and waited that day for further examination, but was told that sadly the baby had died 24 hours prior.

She added: “That was devastating. All losses are devastating, all miscarriages, stillbirths. When you get that line on the pregnancy test they are at university 30 seconds later in your mind.

“This was particularly devastating. I had to make the decision whether to be induced into labour or have a surgical procedure under anaesthetic.

“This is one of the things I think I have struggled with the most. We made the decision to have the surgery. We never got to meet him.

“It’s something I have battled with. At the end of the day it’s a little baby, but luckily the staff at the hospital were amazing — they tell you that they get cremated and the chaplain does a little service.”

The following year, Jessica fell pregnant with her son, Charlie, who she said is now a ‘vibrant two-year-old, entering the terrible twos’.

She added: “Ever since the first loss I’ve wanted to break the taboo of talking about it.

“You don’t want to upset anyone. Just talking about the babies makes them more real.”

Jessica has held fundraising events in the past, including concerts in central London, and, as a professional photographer, volunteers this service for Towards Tomorrow Together.

She is looking forward to the event at Altarnun Village Hall on October 15, as a way to get to know her local area.

She would also be happy to hear from others with similar experiences, adding: “The biggest thing I say is it’s okay not being okay.

“People say they [babies] are in a better place now, but there is no better place for a baby than in a mother’s arms.”

To get in touch with Jessica, email [email protected]