A mum from Stowmarket is urging bereaved parents to "reach out" during baby loss awareness month as she walks 10,000 steps a day in memory of her daughter who died when she was 36 hours old.

Rachel Laws, 25, who is a mum to three other children, said that when people ask her how many children she has she always says "four" as she doesn't want her daughter Elodie-Rae who was born in February 2020 to be forgotten.

Mrs Laws and her husband Mitch, 29, were given the news that their baby daughter had Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome (HLHS) at their 20 week scan.

This meant Elodie-Rae was missing the left ventricle of her heart and would be unable to live longer than a few days.

The couple decided to continue with the pregnancy and with support from the EACH Treehouse Hospice in Ipswich were able to prepare for the birth of their daughter.

Mrs Laws said thanks to the staff at the Treehouse, the family were able to make a lot of "nice happy memories" with Elodie-Rae in the 36 hours she was alive.

Speaking about her and her husband have coped with their grief she said: "We are very open, nothing is hidden, we try to speak about her as much as we can. I have always tried to speak about her."

She added that despite grieving for Elodie-Rae during the coronavirus pandemic she and Mr Laws were given lots of support by family and friends and bereavement counsellors.

Giving advice to parents in a similar situation right now she said: "Reach out, there is a lot of support out there and charities will help."

Mr and Mrs Laws have chosen to fundraise for Sands, a national charity that works to support anyone affected by the death of a baby and improve the care bereaved families receive.

Throughout October, which is baby loss awareness month, the couple have been walking around Stowmarket and Combs Ford and talking about their memories of Elodie-Rae.

They have a target of reaching 310,000 steps by the end of the month and you can sponsor them on their Facebook fundraising page.

Recently a man from Bury St Edmunds set up a football team for men that have been affected by the loss of a baby.