A Longridge couple who suffered a devastating miscarriage are seeking to raise £5,000 for the Baby Beat charity.
Ellie Manley runs Binny and the Bean coffee shop in Inglewhite Road, Longridge and, along with her partner, Jake Binstead, is undertaking the charity challenge.
Last September, just two months into her first pregnancy, Ellie went to hospital suffering from severe cramps. She then had to wait a week for a scan, at which point she was told her baby had no heartbeat.
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Ellie underwent a surgically managed miscarriage at Royal Preston Hospital and, while there, the couple were introduced to early pregnancy loss bereavement nurse Kirstie Russell, who came into post in December 2023 with Baby Beat funding.
Ellie said: “Kirstie was really lovely. You could ask her anything without feeling you were asking a stupid question. She really understood how devastated we felt.
“We had already told close family about the baby, which was good in that they were supportive, but we had clothes and had talked about what colour of paint we were going to paint the baby’s room. All of a sudden, all that is ripped from you.”
Jake, who helps Ellie at the coffee shop on weekends but works as a lorry driver during the week, added: “As the pregnancy was still early, you almost feel that you don’t have the right to feel upset but we’ve learnt it’s okay to acknowledge how affected you are by the loss. It turns everything upside down but there’s still a taboo in talking about it.”
Now Ellie, who sadly suffered a second miscarriage in January, is making plans for a ticketed summer Baby Beat fundraising event, while Jake has an action plan of physical challenges kicking off with the Brighton Marathon next month, the Manchester 10k in May, the Great North Run in September and the Manchester Half Marathon in October, as well as a HYROX competition and summer skydive.
Joanna Allitt, fundraising manager for Baby Beat, said: “We are very grateful to Ellie and Jake for fundraising for Baby Beat and for being brave enough to speak out about the devastating impact of early pregnancy loss, which is miscarriage at up to 16 weeks.”
Baby Beat is part of the Lancashire Teaching Hospitals charity family. It funds specialist equipment and a range of other services, as well as supporting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Royal Preston. More information is available at www.babybeat.org.uk
You can also donate to Ellie and Jake’s appeal by visiting www.justgiving.com/page/jacob-babybeat
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