Rachel’s fundraising story: the Belfast Half Marathon
After suffering two miscarriages, Rachel, her husband, and a few friends ran the Belfast Half Marathon to raise money for the M.A.
I think it’s so important that miscarriage isn’t a taboo topic, it’s something that happens every day and the more we ignore it, the more women suffer.
In July 2022, myself and my partner were thrilled to find out we were expecting our first baby. In early August we went for an early reassurance scan expecting to be measuring 8 weeks. Unfortunately, the scan showed that our baby was measuring 6 weeks and 2 days. A few confirmation scans later and it was confirmed that I had had a missed miscarriage. Although I was still getting the symptoms of pregnancy, my baby had stopped growing and my body hadn’t yet recognised it. We were absolutely devastated. With advice from the Miscarriage Association we decided to have surgical management of miscarriage.
8 months later we found out we were pregnant again, only to miscarry naturally a week later.
I’ve found the whole experience incredibly lonely as it isn’t something that is openly spoken about. I think it’s so important that miscarriage isn’t a taboo topic, it’s something that happens every day and the more we ignore it, the more women suffer.
Myself, my husband and a few friends ran the Belfast half marathon for the Miscarriage Association to raise money for such an important charity. We have been astounded by the generosity of people, we aimed to raise £1000 and have ended up raising over £3000. We hope that fundraising like this will make a difference to women and their babies.