A LITTLE life, not a little loss, is the message a Ledbury mother will be spreading on Baby Loss Awareness Day tomorrow (Saturday).

Sam Jones, from Ledbury, knows just how devastating the loss of one tiny life can be.

Mrs Jones, who runs a support group called Sands (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society), lost a daughter, Madison, six years ago.

Madison was stillborn but she also lost six other babies through miscarriages.

Mrs Jones now supports and helps other mothers who have lost babies.

"To a mother a miscarriage or a stillbirth is still a baby they have lost. It's heartbreaking and not everyone understands that," explained Mrs Jones, who still thinks of her daughter every day.

She has three living children, Bradley, aged eight, Grady, three, and Talia, six months, who are especially precious. But, she says Madison is like a missing member of the family.

"People with the best of intentions try to help by telling you that you can have another, but you can't just replace a baby," said Mrs Jones. "Sometimes only other mothers who have experienced similar losses can really understand."

The Sands group currently supports 65 local mums, each with their own story.

"Mums love their babies even before they are born. That's why the loss is so real," she said.

Mrs Jones said that the loss could be almost unbearable for mums.

Some miscarriages and stillbirths follow years of infertility treatment and their miracle pregnancies were their one and only chance of motherhood.

For other mothers who lose their babies early in pregnancy, there is the added insult that, legally at least, their baby was not even a baby and did not officially exist.

Others go through labour and give birth, knowing their baby is already dead.

For others, there is the knowledge that their baby died because of mistakes made by doctors during delivery.

Mrs Jones is currently setting up the Madison Trust, in memory of her lost daughter. The trust will work to support mothers who have lost a baby from very early miscarriage onwards.

She can be contacted after 8pm on 01531 633654.