Growing baby loss memorial is 'heartbreaking'

Lauren Hincks (L), pictured with Beth Price, said seeing the memorial grow to nearly 400 ribbons was "heartbreaking"

A woman who began tying ribbons to a fence to remember lost babies has said it is "heartbreaking" to see hundreds more added to the memorial.

Lauren Hincks, from Redditch, in Worcestershire, lost her son Rupert in 2021 before coming up with the idea of adding ribbons in his memory to the fence by Arrow Valley Lake.

She said: "I wanted something where I could honour not just our baby, but every family's baby."

Ms Hicks said the first memorial for Baby Loss Awareness Week in 2022 had 60 ribbons but this year's has nearly 400.

The fence has blue ribbons for boys, pink for girls and yellow for the babies who passed away before the parents learned their gender.

This year's memorial has almost 400 ribbons, each representing a single baby

Ms Hincks came up with the idea after she discovered a community of mums online who had suffered the same tragedy as her.

"It felt like I was not alone anymore," she said.

She told the other mums her plan and asked if they wanted her to add a ribbon for their lost babies.

"In the first year, there was probably about 60 or 70 ribbons, and that at the time felt overwhelming," she said.

The memorial is now in its fourth year, with the ribbons displayed during Baby Loss Awareness week, which falls between 9 and 15 October.

"I just wanted to continue doing that every year, but it's heartbreaking that each year more babies are added because more babies are lost," Ms Hincks added.

Ms Hincks said her memorial was for parents who could not attend other ceremonies during the week, and added: "It doesn't matter if they've lost their baby 50 years ago or last week."

Ms Price lost her daughter Isabelle two years after Ms Hincks lost her son Rupert

Beth Price lost her baby daughter Isabelle in 2023 and said she initially "struggled to find communities" before discovering Ms Hincks' memorial.

"I've got four children so I can't go to these ceremonies, I can't go to designated group meet ups but I can come here whenever I like," she said.

"I can come with my husband, I can come here with my children and we can just sit, we can think and reflect.

"It's just a really nice opportunity to designate a day to Isabelle and it has been amazing."