A MOTHER who was rushed to hospital 17 times with a rare pre-natal condition is desperate to raise awareness among other parents.
Clara Cable was four-and-a-half months pregnant with her daughter Juniper when she first suffered a placental abruption, a condition where the placenta's lining separates from the uterus, causing severe pain and blood loss.
But it took a further three hospital visits for doctors to diagnose the potentially fatal condition, which forced pregnant Clara back to the emergency ward a total of 17 times throughout her pregnancy.
Now the 27-year-old from Maldon has created a forum for other mothers to share their experiences, and – for many – to discuss the heartbreak of losing their child.
"I have always been interested in training as a midwife and I had never even heard of this condition," said the mother-of-three.
"I'd been suffering from cramps the day before, and I kept having to sit down. When I woke the next morning I realised I was bleeding.
"If it had been further along in the pregnancy, there would have been an even greater risk to the baby and myself."
It was while Clara was heavily pregnant and terrified for her unborn child that she set up a Facebook group inviting mothers from across the world to share their stories.
"When I created the forum I was desperate to speak to someone who had come through it with a good outcome. All I had heard about were women losing their children."
Baby Juniper was born in November 2011 at 32 weeks and spent her first few days of life in an incubator at Broomfield Hospital.
But following a tense Christmas she was discharged and taken home.
"After Juniper was born I realised how important it was to make a space for people to share their stories so I've been trying to build up awareness ever since," said Clara, who was so fearful for her life that she married partner Steven in a rushed ceremony at Braintree registry office weeks before the birth.
The group now has more than 1,000 followers with women from the US, Brazil and Australia adding their own experiences.
Stay-at-home mum Clara's ultimate aim is for each GP surgery and pre-natal clinic in the UK to stock an information leaflet on the condition but she needs 100,000 signatures on a Government e-petition to make this a reality.
For now, the traumatic experience has helped her to re-evaluate her priorities, which is why she, her husband Steven and their three healthy children are emigrating to Australia in a few days' time.
"It was quite simply the worst time in my life, which made me realise how important everything is and how short life can be," said Clara, who is currently packing up all her belongings at the family home on St Giles Crescent.
"We've always wanted to go to Australia so we decided to just for it. But that doesn't mean I'm going to stop raising awareness, I'll take my campaign over there as well."
To visit the forum, search Facebook for Awareness of Placental Abruption. To sign the e-petition, visit epetitions. direct.gov.uk/petitions/35267.