Book launched to help children understand 'rainbow' pregnancies

Kara Davey and Stephanie James published their book titled 'There's a rainbow baby in my mummy's tummy' on October 1, 2020.

Kara said: “A rainbow baby is the term used to describe a baby conceived after a loss. ‘There’s a rainbow baby inside my mummy’s tummy’ is written for children who are aware of and/or remember the death of a baby sibling through late miscarriage, stillbirth or neonatal death. It’s written with the aim of helping parents to acknowledge their child’s fears and provide reassurances, where possible.”

The mums are now hoping to raise money to allow local hospitals and Sussex-based baby loss charity Oscar’s Wish Foundation to give copies of the book to families who would benefit from it but who cannot afford to purchase it.

Kara said: “There are books, support groups and online forums available to support parents who lose a baby. However, baby loss affects siblings too. Resources for siblings are much less widely available. Our book helps children understand and talk about how they may feel when their mother falls pregnant again after a significant loss. Neither Stephanie nor I could find any other children’s books available with this intention.”

Oscar's Wish Foundation (OWF) supported Kara after the stillbirth of her daughter Jessica in 2017. Kara stayed in the maternity bereavement suite at the Princess Royal Hospital in Haywards Heath, which OWF had opened just days before her loss. Kara and her husband were so grateful for the comfort that the suite provided at such an awful time.

As a result, they held a range of fundraising events, which enabled them to donate £16,000 to OWF to use towards the cost of developing a new maternity bereavement suite at the Royal Sussex County Hospital, Brighton. That suite opened in June 2018.

Kara who is a clinical psychologist wrote the book and Stephanie did the beautiful illustrations. Both women experienced significant and recurrent baby loss themselves and so were keen to use their personal experiences to help other families in a similar position. Kara and Stephanie both feel incredibly lucky to now have two living children each.

A crowdfunding page has been set up for donations. To donate visit justgiving.com/crowdfunding/theresarainbowbabyinmymummystummyThe book is also available to purchase at amazon.co.uk/Theres-rainbow-inside-Mummys-tummyAll book royalties go to Oscar’s Wish Foundation.

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