Four year old boy tackles 1k run to raise money for charity that helped newborn sister

Now, her four year old son Owen is embarking on a mission to raise money for the Kicks Count charity, that made Laura aware of the importance of a baby's movements in the womb.

The 34 year old gift business owner from Southport spoke of how she knew something "wasn't right" after noticing her unborn baby Chloe wasn't moving or kicking.

She had read information on Kicks Count website over the years and had previously suffered reduced movements with her child Owen. After realising that reduced movements should always be checked, she said she felt "lucky" that she knew to make the journey to the doctors this time round.

She said: “In the early hours of Tuesday May 19, I couldn't sleep and knew something just wasn't right. I went to the hospital on my own as my husband wasn't allowed in due to Coronavirus, which was nerve-wracking.

"The doctor explained the trace was showing signs of a possible bleed and that it was best to deliver the baby via an emergency c section. We didn't know if my husband would make it in time. I was prepped for the section and, luckily, my husband made it a couple of minutes before."

One of the midwives doing night checks at the hospital then noticed Chloe was very pale and her skin was mottled.

A short time after, Chloe was taken to the Special Care Baby Unit at Ormskirk hospital, where they discovered she had a severely low iron count. The doctors discovered she had suffered a feto-maternal haemorrhage whilst inside Laura.

"They found the placenta was taking the blood away from her instead of giving it to her, so it meant her iron count was very low," said Laura.

"It was really difficult, especially because of Covid-19 my husband couldn't get into the hospital and had been sent home, so I had to go through it all by myself."

Chloe needed an emergency blood transfusion and spent five difficult days in neonatal care.

After the family had feared losing Chloe, Laura noticed the Kicks Count charity was running a set of fundraising games, with son Owen wanting to be involved.

"I saw the charity was advertising the games on their website so we asked Owen if he wanted to do something to help out," said Laura.

"He knew his sister had been poorly, so we just booked his place online and have to try and raise at least £20. We shared the post last night and has already raised £125."

Laura’s young son Owen is now looking forward to taking part in the games, where he’ll be tackling a 1k run and an egg and spoon race to raise further funds. He said: “I want to help raise money for Kicks Count so more Mummy's and Daddy's know about reduced movements and can save more babies lives.”

Laura said: "We were very lucky to have been able to bring our little girl home. If I hadn't have known how important movements were because of Kicks Count, I wouldn't have gone in to be checked. If it wasn't for the brilliant doctors and midwives, it could have been a completely different story, and our little girl might not have been here with us now.”

Donations can be made to kickscount.org.uk.