A mum who lost her first baby just 12 days after he was born has written a series of books to help other grieving parents make their other children understand.
Amy Draper was just 18 when baby Charlie was born prematurely at 32 weeks in Liverpool Women's Hospital.
Tragically Charlie was born with the rare congenital condition gastroschisis, meaning his bowel was outside his body.
Charlie was too sick to be transferred for specialist care at Alder Hey Children's Hospital, so was treated at the Women's neo-natal unit.
Amy, from Lydiate, told the ECHO: "The staff did everything they could for him, for which I am very grateful.
"At the time I was working as a hairdresser, but after I retrained as a nurse and eventually got a job working in neo-natal care at the Women's, although I mainly work in the neo-natal unit at Arrowe Park Hospital now."
Since the devastating loss of Charlie, Amy married her partner Lee and the couple have had three daughters; four-year-old Dolly; three-year-old Winnie and one-year-old Reenie.
She said: "Lee and I were finding it hard to explain to our three girls about Charlie’s life and his death.
"We realised there are many families out there like ours, who may have lost a child through miscarriage, stillbirth, neonatal or infant death.
"How do you explain this to the children who follow, about such a loss?"
The couple were left struggling to explain what happened to Charlie when they came to mark occasions such as his birthday.
Amy said: "We would say 'we are going out to tea for Charlie's birthday' and Winnie would ask, 'where is he?'".
Amy says the idea formed after Lee, who she met shortly after Charlie's death, started making up stories to tell the girls about their brother.
She said: "Lee has been instrumental in making the book happen, it was more or less his idea really.
"Lee is the one who nursed me through the grieving process as a mum. He was the one who supported me because at the end of the day I was just a teenager when I lost Charlie.
"Our girls would ask about Charlie and he would make up little stories to tell them.
"Then he said why don't we write a book for other people?"
The stories are based around the characters of two children, Dolly and Winnie, as they learn that their brother Charlie is an angel in heaven, and lives in the ‘magical rainbow’.
Lee said: "We just want the series to help others explain loss to children and open up discussion in what are otherwise difficult conversations between the children who come after, and their parents or carers."
Amy added: "‘Charlie was always such a blessing to our family and gave us many good things to be thankful for.
"After he left us, I went on to become a neonatal nurse, and I think the books are another positive that his short life has given us. And they’re just another part of our family’s journey with Charlie."
Amy's tragedy featured in an ITV series about the neonatal intensive care unit at Liverpool Women’s Hospital, broadcast in 2011.
She allowed the cameras to follow her and also her parents, Lisa and football manager Terry McPhillips, and capture Charlie’s tragically short life after the birth.
‘The Magical Rainbow Babies’, which features illustrations by local artist Sean Webster, is published by Elephant Memoirs, and is available on Amazon.
