Heysham couple who lost daughter to stillbirth set up support group to help other families

A couple whose baby daughter was stillborn have set up a group to help other parents who have lost babies.
Chelsie and Matt with Jax, Tate and Edie. Jax is holding Matilda's ashes memorial bear.Chelsie and Matt with Jax, Tate and Edie. Jax is holding Matilda's ashes memorial bear.
Chelsie and Matt with Jax, Tate and Edie. Jax is holding Matilda's ashes memorial bear.

Chelsie Gladstone and her fiance Matt Walker are launching a support group within the local area from January.

Matilda’s Mission has been set up in memory of Matilda Evelyn Walker, the couple's daughter, who was stillborn in February 2019 at 36 weeks and four days.

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The initiative aims to will help other families who have found themselves in a similar situation.

Chelsie and Matt with son Jax, taken on New Year's Eve 2018 when Chelsie was pregnant with Matilda.Chelsie and Matt with son Jax, taken on New Year's Eve 2018 when Chelsie was pregnant with Matilda.
Chelsie and Matt with son Jax, taken on New Year's Eve 2018 when Chelsie was pregnant with Matilda.

"It came as a huge shock to the family as we had experienced what seemed a ‘textbook’ pregnancy," said Chelsie, 34. "It transpired that Matilda’s cause of death was due to undetected placental insufficiencies. Over the space of the following nine months we then endured three early miscarriages.

"We are very well aware of how devastating and life altering baby loss is and how lonely and isolating life can feel following such.

"We were fortunate to be supported by a wonderful local charity who at the time offered monthly support group meetings. Sadly, due to demand in other areas the charity were no longer able to continue to offer support in the Lancaster area. We knew we had to come together to set up Matilda’s Mission.

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"Admittedly, we are not trained therapists but we do feel we can offer families love, care, compassion and empathy. We will never know exactly how they are feeling, but we want families to know that they are not alone. We’re here if and when they need us.

"We know that what works for one person as baby loss support, may not for the next person. We have set up informal monthly meetings to allow family members to come together to share as much, or as little as they’d like and to just be with others who may just slightly ‘get it’."

The couple already had a son Jax, now four, when Matilda died, and have gone on to have two more children, 18-month-old Tate and Edie, who is just nine weeks old.

We reported in 2019 how the couple had raised £8,000 for charities including Tigerlily, Bay Hospitals Charity, Sands and Beyond Bea after Matilda passed away.

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This included collecting baby vests to signify the number of stillbirths in the UK each year. The vests were then sponsored and donated to charity.

Chelsie and Matt, 43, hope Matilda's Mission will now go a step further in supporting others as they were supported.

"The plan is to hold informal baby loss support meetings for bereaved families to come together," Chelsie said.

"We are a not-for-profit group who will offer peer support to families who have been through miscarriage, ectopic pregnancy, compassionate induction/termination of pregnancy, stillbirth, neonatal and infant loss.

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"We will be holding a range of group events and activities available to parents, siblings, grandparents and the wider extended family. All of our groups and activities will be free of charge and accessible to all."

Monthly meet ups will be held in the Lancaster, Morecambe and Carnforth areas, with additional activities being booked throughout the year to suit parents and extended family members.

Whether it be a week, month, year or decade since babies died, families are always welcome to join.

Events have been organised for the first quarter of 2022 and these can be viewed under the ‘Our Meetings & Events’ tab on the website here.

A contact number for families to use if necessary is also available on 07933 035625, and social media pages have been set up on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

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