A new mum hid her pregnancy for nine months for fear of 'jinxing it' after suffering six miscarriages.
Amy Whatley, 28, and her husband Vincent, 37, endured six devastating losses during a four-year struggle to complete their family.
When Amy fell pregnant again in March 2019, the pair decided they couldn't face telling anyone the news for fear of another tragedy.
Amy ditched her usual fashionable clothes and covered herself with baggy coats so friends and colleagues didn't spot her growing bump.
The sales assistant said: "I wanted to keep it a secret. We couldn't deal with anymore loss and I was living in constant fear of losing the baby again.
"My 10-year-old daughter would always say 'if' this baby comes home not 'when' this baby comes home.
"After posting my last pregnancy on social media and then losing the baby, I didn't want the same thing to happen again.
"I managed to get to 30 weeks without anyone questioning it.
"I would go to the toilet every 30 minutes to check if I was bleeding and my husband was also worried."
The mum broke the news of her latest pregnancy by posting a video on Facebook showing pictures of her baby scans.
She said: "There was a lot of crying - especially from my family and other mothers who had had a miscarriage.
"People couldn't believe that I had managed to hide it for this long but they were so happy for us.
"My morning sickness was a bit difficult to hide at work but luckily I usually work on my own so I was able to keep dashing off to the loos.
"I also had to inject myself with blood thinners at work so I had to sneak off to do that.
"Sometimes I would bleed badly from it so I would be constantly worrying that people would notice.
"If I had a different job, I probably wouldn't have been able to hide it for so long."
The couple, who already have children Sky, 10, Lola, eight, and Levi, seven, began trying for a baby to complete their family in 2016.
Amy fell pregnant quickly, but lost the baby at around six weeks.
She then suffered a further four early miscarriages in quick succession - but she and Vincent were thrilled when in early 2017, she fell pregnant again and a 12-week scan revealed the baby was doing well.
Convinced they had passed the 'danger point' of 12 weeks pregnant, Amy announced her pregnancy to the world on social media, only to suffer a late miscarriage at 16 weeks.
The devastated couple named their baby Harper, and still celebrate her birthday every year.
Amy said: "(We) get her a birthday cake. The kids all have bracelets and charms to remember her and we all have a memory box as well.
"I had three other children to look after. They kept me going but if I didn't have them, I would have had a complete breakdown."
Amy and Vincent, a self-employed scaffolder, lost all hope after Harper's death, with Amy quitting her job as she was not able to take enough time off to grieve.
However, the couple finally found out they were expecting again in March 2019.
This time round, Amy, from Newbury, Berkshire, wanted to keep her pregnancy a secret due to fears she would have another miscarriage.
But in November last year, Amy gave birth to a healthy baby girl who she decided to call Hope as a reminder of the journey her family had gone on.
Amy and Vincent are now delighted to have the big family they always dreamed of.
The mum said: "I'm so grateful for my miracle baby defeating all the odds.
"For two weeks, I wouldn't leave her alone. I was so scared I just wanted to be with her at all times to make sure she was okay because it didn't feel real."
