Portadown woman Laura Trueman, whose baby died at 23 weeks, raises £2,300 for Sands Charity at London Marathon

Laura Trueman spoke of discovering her baby had no heartbeat when she was 23 weeks pregnant and yet still she had to give birth.

Laura, who works as a radio producer for the BBC in Belfast, decided to fundraise for Sands – the Stillbirth and neonatal death charity – after losing her first born son Brody in 2016.

The 36-year-old, who has just moved back to the town, was successful in achieving a place on the London Marathon via the ballot in 2021 but deferred her place to this year.

“My dad and sister have completed the London Marathon and I put myself in for the ballot never expecting to be successful. When I found out I had a place I decided I wanted to do it in memory of our son who we lost during my first pregnancy,” Laura said.

“I was 23 weeks pregnant when we received the devastating news that a heartbeat couldn’t be found.

“Some people still don’t know that I had to give birth and as my baby was under 24 weeks we did not receive a death certificate or any official recognition that we had had a baby who died.

“I experienced a lot of complications afterwards and after two years of being told it was not safe to try again and three investigative surgeries later, we received the green light that we could risk it.

“We now have a healthy son, who will soon turn four, and a two-year-old daughter.”

Laura finished the marathon in four hours and 27 minutes.

"I was happy as I had over a month out due to injury and had to just focus on swimming to retain my fitness,” said Laura who raised more than £2,300 for Sands.

Laura said: “Through taking on this legendary race I will raise money needed to help Sands prevent more babies from dying and meet the growing need for its support services. I also want to raise awareness of late miscarriage and that it often involves childbirth.”

Sands is the leading stillbirth and neonatal death charity in the UK.

Sands exists to reduce the number of babies dying and to ensure that anyone affected by the death of a baby receives the best possible care and support for as long as they need it.

Check out Laura’s fundraising page which is still open for donations.

https://sands.enthuse.com/pf/laura-trueman-9ebce