PARENTS who have suffered the loss of a newborn baby met at Ashford's William Harvey Hospital’s neo-natal unit to remember their children and help others through their grief.

Almost 100 balloons were released at the hospital on Sunday in memory of babies who died in hospital.

The event had two purposes – to raise awareness of the Baby Loss Awareness Campaign and to allow those families who have lost babies to pay tribute.

Families came from all over Kent, as the neo-natal unit covers most of the county.

Most of the balloons were labelled with the names of their lost loved ones.

The organiser of the balloon launch was Kirsty Mitchell, from Dover, who lost her son Tyler to neo-natal haemochromatosis early this year.

This is a rare condition in which toxic levels of iron accumulate in the baby’s liver.

Kirsty’s other son, Cameron, four, was the first to release his balloon, with the name of the brother he never got a chance to know attached to it.

Kirsty said: “This is to pay tribute to my son and all the other babies that have been lost, as well as raising awareness and money for the campaign.

“The care I received here was brilliant and I cannot fault how they looked after me or Tyler.

“There are a lot of people who suffer such losses but nobody seems to talk about it as much.

“There are support groups out there but more people need to be aware of the help.”

Money is raised for the campaign through the sale of light blue and light pink ribbons.

For more information about the Baby Loss Awareness Campaign, log on to www.babyloss-awareness.org or call 07900 495436.