ACOUPLE who lost their first child when he was born prematurely have raised nearly £5,000 to be shared between the hospital ward which tried to save him and a leading neonatal charity.

Lorna Lawrence went into premature labour 23 weeks into her pregnancy in May. Her son, Noah David, was born on the very edge of viability, but was too small to survive.

Lorna, 24, and her 31-year-old husband Paul are now expecting again and at 35 weeks all is going well, but they didn’t want to forget little Noah or the hospital and charity which helped during their ordeal.

They held a charity ball at the Freight House, in Rochford, which was attended by more than 200 people.

So far the event has raised £4,886 to be split between the Butterfly Suite at Southend Hospital, where Lorna gave birth to Noah, and Sands, the stillbirth and neo-natal death society.

Lorna, of Woodgrange Drive, Southchurch, said: “We were obviously devastated by the loss of our son, but were overwhelmed by the care we received from Southend Hospital.

“After Noah's funeral we wanted something positive to focus on and came up with the idea for a charity ball to raise money for the Butterfly Suite and also for Sands, who were a real source of support in the weeks after our loss.

“The loss of a baby is often so distressing for people to talk about that most people shy away from it, but for a bereaved parent that can be very isolating and my husband and I were determined from the start that just because Noah didn’t survive didn’t mean he wasn’t going to be remembered and part of our lives. So this is how the event came about.

“We used local band 208 who also performed at our wedding in 2012 and used this as an opportunity not only to raise money for two very important charities, but also to raise awareness.”

Local photographer Kelly Pitt donated her time, equipment and expertise to photograph guests in return for a donation.

There was also a raffle held on the night. All proceeds from this and 220 tickets sold will be split 50/50 between the two charities.”

Lorna added: “The reason we chose this time of year for the event is because October 9 to 15 is baby loss awareness week, finishing with a remembrance day, so was the perfect time to highlight such an issue.”

If anyone would like to add to the total raised, please call 07894 446755.