Grieving Mother Riddled with Guilt after Daughter Dies During Home Birth
Aimee Green and Ryan Conroy anxiously awaited the arrival of their first child together.
The Cornwall, England, couple had been preparing for the birth of their baby girl Luna for months and decided to have a home birth.
The day finally came, and throughout the 11-hour labor, their baby was doing well. Four midwives were present during the birth to help, but during the very last push, Aimee knew something was very wrong.
Luna’s umbilical cord was shorter than normal, and in the final moments of the birth, it broke.
“She passed away there and then. She never cried, opened her eyes or anything. She was a perfect, healthy baby … nothing was wrong until the last push,” Amiee said. “I felt she was stuck like on a bungee cord … and the cord snapped. All of Luna’s blood was lost. There was no reviving her.”
Aimee, Luna, and Ryan rushed to the hospital, but tragically, there wasn’t anything doctors could do to save the baby.
Warning: the following images may be disturbing to some.
Hospital staff took tests of the umbilical cord and placenta. These tests confirmed that even if little Luna had been born at the hospital, her death still wouldn’t have been preventable.
“[They said] they wouldn’t have been able to perform a C-section in time to save her before delivery because there weren’t any signs that anything was wrong.”
While doctors assured the couple that Luna’s death was not their fault, Aimee couldn’t help but feel immense guilt.
With her thoughts racing a million miles a second, Aimee blamed herself for everything.
But slowly, as she began to recover, she started to see just how special her baby had been.
“Over the past three months we’ve learnt that Luna was born into this crazy world to make a difference and impact people’s lives.
“Memories, money and time have been crucial in our recovery process and it is important that all grieving families have access to these.”
And as they continue to cope, Aimee and Ryan have started a new charity to benefit families of stillborn babies.
“I would like mothers to know that I am an absolute minority,” Aimee said. “If Luna was here I would also be raving to all of my friends and family and all social media platforms how amazing [home birth] was. It’s the calm, natural state I had also envisioned.”
Our hearts go out to Aimee and Ryan as they continue to grieve the loss of Luna and become a voice for families like their own.
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