Mum who miscarried four babies in a year welcomes miracle

A first-time mum who miscarried four babies within the space of a year, including a set of twins and a near-fatal ectopic pregnancy, is preparing to celebrate Mother’s Day after finally giving birth to a healthy baby boy who she still “can’t believe (is) here”.

Laura Kane, 34, a project manager who lives in Kidderminster with her partner Aaron Reynolds, a 33-year-old plasterer, and their nine-month-old son William, first fell pregnant in April 2021 but sadly had a missed miscarriage at around seven or eight weeks, leaving her “absolutely heartbroken”.

A missed miscarriage, according to the NHS, is diagnosed when a foetus has died or failed to develop but is still in the mother’s uterus – she did not know until bleeding several weeks later prompted a scan, but Laura’s baby had died in her womb and had to be surgically removed.

In October 2021 Laura then discovered she was pregnant again but, just a few days later, found out she had an ectopic pregnancy, when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb.

Told her baby would not survive, she had to have surgery to remove the baby and was told her fallopian tubes could “rupture at any point” which could prove fatal, so had to have one of them removed too.

Ahead of the procedure, she was put on the antenatal ward, and had to be around pregnant people and babies “knowing there was a dead baby inside of (her)”.

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In May 2022 she became pregnant with twins, but one of them did not develop early on, and at eight weeks, she had another missed miscarriage and had to have another operation to remove the baby.

Laura felt like these losses were “not a coincidence” so, after persuading her GP, she was put on the waiting list for Tommy’s recurrent miscarriage clinic in Birmingham – a specialist clinic run by the UK’s largest pregnancy and baby loss charity where patients can access cutting-edge clinical care, as well as have the opportunity to participate in medical trials.

But in October 2022, while on the list, she unexpectedly fell pregnant again.

The team pushed for Laura to be prescribed with progesterone pessaries for the first 16 weeks of her pregnancy, and to have a stitch for her funnelling cervix, and in June 2023, she had a planned C-Section and gave birth to her baby boy.

She believes this would not have been possible without Tommy’s and is now looking forward to celebrating Mother’s Day.

Laura told PA Real Life: “I’ll never forget my other babies – I found it so hard in previous years when people would ask me if I have any children.

“I wanted to say ‘Yes, but they’re all in heaven’ but it’s really hard because miscarriage is such a taboo, so it was easier to say no even though it made me so upset.

“I’m just so happy to have William and we can’t believe he’s here.”

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When Laura first discovered she was pregnant in April 2021 she and her partner were “so excited” – at around six weeks, she had a private scan and was told her baby “looked perfect.”

But, in June 2021, she began lightly bleeding so doctors brought her 12 week scan forward by one week – it sadly revealed that her baby had stopped growing at around seven or eight weeks old and she was told she had a missed miscarriage.

“We were absolutely heartbroken,” she explained.

“Because of the taboo of not really being open about miscarriages and also because people don’t tell you that they’re pregnant before 12 weeks… I think I thought when I fell pregnant that being pregnant equals having a baby.”

Just a week later, she had to go back into hospital to have surgery to remove the baby.

Laura said: “It was very hard to process – I recovered physically quite quickly however emotionally it was very challenging.”

In October of the same year, Laura began experiencing pain on her side and visited her GP – but, when they conducted some tests, she discovered she was expecting again.

Laura was “ecstatic but nervous” and was taken into hospital a few days later for a scan.

She was sadly told she had an ectopic pregnancy – when a fertilised egg implants itself outside of the womb.

At that point, her baby was alive but doctors said they would not survive, and she needed surgery to remove the baby and her left fallopian tube.

“I was told it could rupture at any point – and it could be fatal,” she said.

“I was on the antenatal ward, and could see pregnant women and babies all around me and I’m there knowing there was a dead baby inside of me.

“I was seeing everyone all happy, as they should be, coming out of their scans and holding their bumps and I was just crying my eyes out.”

Laura and Aaron slowly began trying for a baby again, and in May 2022, she became pregnant with twins, but one of them did not develop early on, and at eight weeks, she had another missed miscarriage and had to have another operation to remove the baby.

“We had weekly scans and everything seemed okay,” Laura explained.

“After I had the operation, my body still thought I was pregnant which was really hard – I felt nauseous, had sore boobs and things like that.”

Throughout this period, Laura felt like she and her family did not get a chance to process each loss.

She said: “It all happened so close together and it was hard to stop and think about it – we were just so heartbroken and exhausted really.

“Our parents were just so excited for us and everyone was so sad when we lost them.”

Laura began to research recurrent miscarriages as she felt like what she was experiencing “was not a coincidence”, so she reached out to the Tommy’s recurrent miscarriage clinic in Birmingham.

Her GP was reluctant to refer her to a service out of her area, but after over a month of calls and appointments, they finally agreed to the referral and she received confirmation from Tommy’s that she was on the waiting list.

In the meantime, Aaron and Laura agreed to stop trying to conceive but in October 2022, she unexpectedly found out she was pregnant again.

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Laura contacted Tommy’s as soon as she found out and they advised her to ask for progesterone pessaries, but Laura felt like her GP did not listen to her concerns.

“I was told it would be classed as any other pregnancy – they couldn’t give me any progesterone until after I had a scan or showed signs of a miscarriage,” she said.

“But, Tommy’s arranged for us to have an early scan and I was eventually prescribed it, and they pushed for me to have consultant-led care.

“They pushed me to ask for another scan because of the impact a previous procedure had on my cervix, and it turned out I had a funnelling cervix which needed a stitch – I think this, and the progesterone made all the difference.”

Over Christmas 2022, Laura and Aaron were so relieved to have reached the 12-week mark and were discharged from Tommy’s – but, regularly contacted them for advice.

In June 2023, Laura and Aaron welcomed their baby boy, William, into the world.

“I truly believe if it wasn’t for Tommy’s, my baby wouldn’t be here today,” Laura said.

“I had such a lovely experience before and after, it was amazing.

“I had a playlist of Disney Classics because it’s what I played William every night through my bump.

“We were just unbelievably happy and I couldn’t believe he was real until I held him in my arms.”

Looking back on her experiences, she said: “I just don’t think that anyone should have to go through so much heartache to have a baby.

“If it wasn’t for me researching Tommy’s and me also saying ‘No, actually, this isn’t right’ my baby might not be here today.”

Laura is now looking forward to Mother’s Day with her son, she said: “We’re going to celebrate this year by going out for a meal and I’m so excited – I’m so thankful to have him.”

Laura is supporting Tommy’s We See a Mum Mother’s Day campaign. For more information, visit Tommys.org/WeSeeAMum.