Model Nell McAndrew speaks of baby loss heartbreak
Model Nell McAndrew spoke of her heartbreak after she was forced to terminate her pregnancy because the baby would not survive.
Doctors told the 31-year-old, who was three months pregnant, that severe complications meant the baby would die before birth.
A scan at a Leeds hospital showed the foetus had a condition known as amniotic band disruption, where the tissue which forms the amniotic sac grows in the wrong place.
It means the band can grow around any part of the child, restricting its growth and chances of survival.
McAndrew, who married 36-year-old Paul Hardcastle in a fairytale wedding last year, told The Sun newspaper that doctors broke the news on September 29.
She said: “Shortly after the scan the consultant explained that there were lots of complications and the foetus could not possibly survive.
“The baby had a condition known as amniotic band disruption, which sometimes means that everything that can be wrong with it is – and that the foetus wouldn’t be able to live.
“Yes I am very, very upset and yes I have cried because things have not turned out the way I thought they would.
“I’d been looking forward to my bump beginning to show. After the scan I was in shock because I’d been feeling fine.”
McAndrew, who had the termination on Friday, said the consultant told her there was nothing she could have done differently.
She added: “I was upset afterwards because it wasn’t something I ever dreamed was going to happen – but realistically it’s something that happens to a lot of women and you just have to get on with it.”
McAndrew broke news of her pregnancy on September 18 while competing in the Great North Run in Newcastle.
She sought the advice of experts regarding the benefits of gentle exercise, ate well and had been taking folic acid.
But she told the newspaper the couple would try for another baby: “We are going to leave things for a while to settle down and make sure everything is functioning properly again – and then we will try again.”
She added: “There are so many people worse off than me. You always have to look at the positive side.”
