SHE DIED TO BE A MUM

Jackie George, 63, was thrilled that her daughter was expecting again, but the future she hoped for wasn’t to be

- FIONA LOCKE

Tears of joy pooled in my eyes as I watched my daughter Hayley, then 30, and her husband David, 32, lock hands as they sliced their wedding cake and smiled for photos. Laughing as the knife cut through layers of cream and sponge, Hayley spotted her children Lilly, five, and Oliver, two, hiding behind the skirt of her vintage lace dress. Forgetting the photos, Hayley handed them each a large slice of cake and peppered their faces with kisses.

It was September 2016, and Hayley and David had been together six years before getting married. They always put their children before themselves, and even on their wedding day they wanted to share every moment with them.

Hayley had such a caring side to her. As a hairdresser, she would regularly do her elderly clients’ housework after giving them a trim, and she was always making sure me and her stepdad Lawrence, then 66, were OK. I’d always known Hayley would make an excellent mother, and when Lilly had been born in 2011, she had proven me right. She’d had to have an emergency caesarean after Lilly had become distressed, but even after such big surgery, Hayley had never looked happier.

Because of Lilly’s birth, when she was pregnant with Oliver in 2014, it was decided a planned caesarean would be her safest option. Everything went as it should, and Hayley was so happy to be a mum of two.

When she and David married, Lilly and Oliver were bridesmaid and pageboy, and Hayley loved that they stole the show, looking adorable in their outfits.

Then, in summer 2019, Hayley announced she was expecting another baby. ‘I can’t wait, Mum,’ she beamed. But when she had a scan at 17 weeks, we learnt this pregnancy was different to her previous two.