A heartbroken mum spent two weeks caring for her tragic baby girl after one of her twins died at birth.
Emma Woodhouse found comfort in taking daughter Jessica on walks and even introduced her to her other children.
The 27-year-old gave birth by emergency c-section to twins at only 29 weeks in June.
Miraculously, the other twin, Bella, survived the traumatic birth but Jessica was stillborn after her umbilical cord ruptured in the womb.
Doctors spent an agonising 22 minutes trying to resuscitate her but could not save the child.
However, thanks to a cooling cot, the mum-of-five took Jessica home and spent a fortnight caring for her daughter.
She bathed her, took her for walks with her husband Paul and introduced Jessica to the girl’s siblings before her cremation.
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Emma, who believes Jessica died in order to save her twin, plans to buy Christmas presents and a stocking for the tot.
The grieving mum, from Lancaster, said: “From the moment Jessica was born I just fell in love with her, she looked so perfect.
“Spending that fortnight with her and her sister was so, so wonderful.
“We want to show people that it’s possible to spend time with your baby after they’ve passed and to make memories with them. This shouldn’t be such a taboo subject.
“Her face was so perfect, I didn’t want to leave her on her own.
“Although she had passed away, she’s my daughter and I wanted to spend as much time with her as I could.”
Emma had a high-risk pregnancy because she has a rare heart-shaped womb, meaning her twins were at risk of being born prematurely.
After going into labour at home at just 29 weeks, Emma was rushed to Royal Lancaster Infirmary for an emergency c-section.
Doctors were able to safely deliver Bella, but failed to be able to resuscitate Jessica.
Emma was given the heartbreaking news by husband Paul that one of her girls hadn’t made it.
She said: “It was amazing to find out that I was going to have twins as I’d always wanted them.
“But I felt weird for four weeks after I found out I was pregnant, which was very, very early.
“The pregnancy felt different and all along I was panicking that something was wrong.
“During the c-section it was very scary, my husband wasn’t even allowed in.
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“Being told that she was gone was terrible, it felt like it wasn’t real and that I was in a nightmare.
“It’s the strangest feeling. You have all the joy of a newborn but also the devastation of the loss of a newborn. I was in shock for a long time.”
After hearing the tragic news, the couple were moved to a bereavement suite in the hospital with a cold cot.
Emma and Paul spent a precious fortnight visiting their daughter every day, spending time with her and taking her for walks in the hospital grounds.
They even introduced Jessica to twin sister Bella while she was still in an incubator, placing the two of them side-by-side.
“Jessica gave Bella life and we see so much of her in Bella. Whenever I see Bella I see Jessica as well,” Emma added.
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