'Running helped me cope with miscarriage grief'

Emma Morgan said she was nervous but excited for the race

When Emma Morgan had her third miscarriage in less than two years, she said the grief hit her harder than ever before.

The 32-year-old, from Nottingham, said losing all her babies was heartbreaking for her and her wife Hayley Morgan, but the most recent baby loss was the toughest to take.

Emma said: "The only way I found that I could properly move forward was to do something positive with my emotions."

She took up running and eight months on, she is preparing to take part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham on Sunday, and the Manchester Half Marathon two weeks later, raising money for a baby loss charity.

Emma's wife Hayley (left) will be supporting her on Sunday

Emma is one of thousands of people taking part in the Robin Hood Half Marathon in Nottingham, an event which has a record number of entries for the 44th annual race.

She said until she had her third miscarriage in January, she had never run before and felt scared at the thought of running 13.1 miles on Sunday.

However she has been training for four months and said it had been a good journey, and she now believes she can do it.

The Nottingham event on Sunday will be followed by the Manchester Half Marathon on 12 October.

"I've thrown myself in at the deep end with doing two half marathons in two weeks," she said.

Emma is raising money for a Nottingham baby loss charity

In taking on both races, Emma is aiming to raise money for the baby loss charity Forever Stars.

She said she found it really difficult to talk about the pain of losing three babies through miscarriage.

"You don't want people to pity you," she said.

But when the third miscarriage happened, she realised she couldn't keep "pushing things under the carpet" and she credits the charity with helping her to open up.

"For me, they've been a lifeline," she said. "Knowing there's someone there that understands and has been through what I've been through."

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