Charity set up in memory of baby helps 50 families

The charity was set up to carry on Oscar's legacy, said Leila Hobart

A baby loss charity that strives to ensure "no family faces this heart-wrenching journey alone" has helped more than 50 families in its first 18 months.

Leila and Barry Hobart set up Little Wings of Hope in memory of their son Oscar, who lived for just a few hours after arriving prematurely at 23 weeks.

"When we came out of hospital, we searched for help and support and found there was such a lack," Ms Hobart said, from Witham in Essex.

A sponsored walk up Snowdon, in Gwynedd, Wales, recently raised nearly £13,000 for the charity, which is "a life-changing amount of money" for it, she said.

"It'll enable us to continue our work and help that next family who will sadly lose their baby - and keep Oscar's legacy alive."

The charity has been running since January 2024 and now supports bereaved parents in Suffolk, Norfolk, Kent and Cambridgeshire, as well as Essex.

'Just too little'

Ms Hobart, a first-time mother, "didn't think I'd be walking out of the hospital with a box rather than my baby".

Oscar arrived prematurely in July 2023 at the Luton and Dunstable Hospital and, despite the best efforts of the "amazing" medical team, he "was just too little" to survive more than a few hours, she said.

"I'll always be so grateful for that time I had with Oscar, but I'm also mindful that other families don't get that opportunity to hold their babies for as long to see them breathe," she said.

"We had that time to make those memories, to speak to him to let him know that we loved him, that he was loved."

Within a month, the couple were trying to set up a charity to provide the sort of support they would have appreciated themselves from others going through it.

Recently bereaved mother Jasmine is receiving help from the charity

Jasmine and Owen, who live near Norwich, lost their son Sonny two months ago, when Jasmine was 38 weeks pregnant.

"It's like a bad dream, a nightmare that you couldn't wake up from, and everything stops around you," said Jasmine.

Owen had to break the news to their six-year-old son Harry and said: "I'll never forget having that conversation with him - life changed for us and it will always be different."

Jasmine said the support from Little Wings of Hope is making a difference: "They describe it as a hole in your heart - over time the hole gets smaller but it never goes away, and it will always hurt and there will never be a time when you move on you'll never forget."

Baby loss in the UK

• 13 babies die shortly before during or after birth every day in the UK

• At least one in six pregnancies ends in miscarriage

• The UK baby death rate is said to be average compared to other European countries

• But some countries such as Sweden consistently perform better

Source: Sands & Tommy's Joint Policy Unit

Ms Hobart said these figures were "far bigger than we imagined".

"Over the last 18 months, we have been able to support over 50 families and that for me screams there is a need for support out there for families - this year alone we've had 35 inquiries for help and support," she said.

The Department of Health and Social Care has been approached for comment.