A COUPLE have opened up about enduring the heartbreak of losing four of their five babies shortly after birth.
Sarah and Dean Mumm’s daughter Sophie, son Henry, and twin girls Ella and Grace tragically didn’t survive due to complications after being born prematurely.
The former Australian rugby union star, 35, and his 34-year-old solicitor wife had gone through so much agony that when their son Alfie arrived healthy at 36 weeks they hadn’t purchased any baby items.
“We lived week by week, appointment by appointment and couldn’t accept that it would be real until he came home with us,” Dean told Femail.
They first found out they were pregnant with daughter Sophie in 2012 five months after they got married.
However, one week after their 20-week scan Sarah started bleeding and doctors told her she was 3cm dilated with evidence of damage to the amniotic sac, which is a sign of pre-term labour.
Sarah went into labour and “beautiful” Sophie was “too little to survive” and died shortly after birth.
Afterwards, she was diagnosed with “cervical weakness” – where the cervix is unable to retain a pregnancy, causing miscarriage or preterm birth.
Half a year later the couple were delighted to discover they were expecting again.
Sarah had a cervical cerclage – also called a cervical stitch – to help ensure a healthy pregnancy.
However, at 28 weeks she suffered from a placental bleed and was rushed to hospital where doctors tried and failed to stop the premature birth of their son Henry.
Holding him was “bittersweet” as he was quickly taken to neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) for close monitoring.
But the little boy contracted an infection and wasn’t strong enough to fight it, and died nine days later in his mum’s arms.
When Sarah found out she was pregnant for a third time she had scans every two weeks to check the cervix wasn’t shortening.
In the run-up to the birth of their now three-year-old son Alfie, she was experiencing bouts of “anxiety” due to the “worry it may not happen”.
But he was born at 36 weeks, and after 24 hours in the NICU and another five days in special care he was able to come home.
Two years later, Sarah discovered she was pregnant with identical twins Ella and Grace.
But they were born at 20 weeks after developing twin-to-twin syndrome – where there is an imbalance of blood flow between each twin, risking heart failure and other serious complications.
“The labour was particularly difficult in that we almost lost Sarah as well. Grace survived for 25 minutes and spent her entire life in her arms while Ella passed away during the delivery,” Dean said.
Sarah added: “It is soul destroying going through the pain of labour, knowing your child will not be alive at the end. Knowing that the moment the labour is over there will be no cry of life. Just silence.”
The couple say that while they love being parents to Alfie they think about their four other children daily.
Yesterday, we told you the signs to look out for in hot weather to stop your baby from overheating.
We also revealed how a mum who took daughter to doctors with mysterious black mark on the roof of her mouth shares mortifying moment she discovered it was only cardboard.
And we take a look at the pricey pushchairs chosen by image-conscious parents.
