Mum wants people to know 'there is hope after pregnancy loss'

A woman who welcomed a daughter after two pregnancy losses has said she wants others who face similar heartache to know "there is still hope".

Hayley Metcalfe, 37, from Runcorn in Cheshire, said she and her husband Mike were "over the moon" to find out she was pregnant with her second son in 2023.

But what followed was three years of heartbreak when Hayley suffered a placental abruption at 19 weeks pregnant and was told her baby boy, who they had named Oscar, had died.

The following year, the couple lost a second baby, who they had named Leo, at 17 weeks pregnant.

"The road after baby loss is never easy and trusting again can feel impossible," said Hayley.

"But I want people to know there can still be hope."

Hayley said the couple had always wanted to start a family and, in 2019, the pair welcomed their eldest son George.

She recalled how she had a normal pregnancy with George so when she fell pregnant again in 2023, her and husband Mike were excited to grow their family.

But at 19 weeks and four days into her pregnancy, Hayley said she felt as though "something wasn't right".

An ultrasound later confirmed that Oscar had died.

"It sounds awful, but when you know your baby is no longer alive, you just want it all to be over," she said.

"We already had so many baby things at home.

"We told George that his little brother wasn't going to be coming home."

Hayley was induced into labour the following day.

"I was in labour for nine hours and it was incredibly difficult knowing I would never hear my baby cry," she recalled.

"After the funeral, the support from other people gradually faded and life simply carried on, even though I was consumed by grief."

A post-mortem examination later revealed Hayley had suffered a silent, concealed placental abruption, meaning her placenta had separated from the wall of the womb.

In summer 2024, Hayley said she was "terrified" when she became pregnant again.

"We didn't want to feel like we were replacing Oscar, but part of us still hoped we'd be able to have another straightforward pregnancy like we had with George," she said.

"We were delighted - but naturally terrified."

But at 17 weeks, Hayley was told she had lost the pregnancy after suffering a placental abruption.

"I was still grieving Oscar and now our baby boy Leo was gone too," she said.

After three years of loss, Hayley said she began to desperately search for answers and found Tommy's Rainbow Clinic in Manchester - a specialist service for women and their families in a pregnancy following a stillbirth or neonatal death.

It was here that when Hayley fell pregnant in 2025, she was told there was a problem with blood flow from her placenta to the baby.

From six weeks, she started taking daily blood-thinning injections and aspirin.

"I was terrified throughout the pregnancy," she said.

"Every single day I thought the baby was going to die.

"The further along I got, the more I felt there was to lose, because I already knew exactly what losing a baby felt like."

But in February, the couple welcomed their daughter into the world.

"Hope, let out her first cry and I burst into tears," she said. "Everything was finally going to be okay.

"Naming our miracle daughter Hope felt right after everything we'd been through to bring her safely into the world.

"We will always carry the grief of losing Oscar and Leo with us, but Hope is living proof that even after the darkest of storms, rainbows can break through."

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