Parents campaign in memory of their daughter

Two parents who lost their baby daughter to a rare condition just three days after she was born are hoping their story will help to save other babies.

Jamie and Rachael Bonser are campaigning for hospitals to check for the condition at every pregnant woman's 20-week scan.

The condition is called Vasa Praevia and is caused by the placental or umbilical blood vessels crossing the birth canal.

It is not mandatory for hospitals to check for the condition.

The couple are trying to change that.

They believe if the check was done as part of the 20-week scan lives could be saved.

They were trying for a baby for two and a half years and after undergoing fertility treatment Rachael discovered she was pregnant.

She suffered no abnormalities during her pregnancy and so had no idea she had the condition.

The former nurse was told at her 12-week scan that she had a low-lying placenta but that it was nothing to worry about and would likely move throughout her pregnancy but the 20 week scan revealed it had not moved.

But Rachael woke one night shortly after to find her bed wet from what she thought was her waters breaking.

Rachael was rushed to hospital where she had an emergency caesarian after doctors found her baby's heart-rate was dropping. As soon as their baby, who they named Abigail, was born Rachael says she knew something was wrong.

It took twelve minutes for Abigail to take her first breath.

She was taken to the neonatal unit and placed on a ventilator where she was given many blood transfusions having lost 90% of her blood.

The next day she began to suffer from seizures that the doctors were unable to control with drugs.

When Abigail was just three days old, doctors told Rachael and Jamie that her heart-rate had dropped and as they held her for the first time she passed away.

After Abigail's death Jamie and Rachael began researching the condition and the couple have been raising funds for Vasa Praevia Awareness which campaigns for scans at all hospitals.

To date they have raised £5,000 through fundraising events such as pub quizzes and Jamie has run two half-marathons.

Rachael and Jamie were due to marry in September 2010 with Abigail as a flower girl but they postponed the wedding as they said it did not not feel right without Abigail there.

The couple married last year and now have a 20-month-old daughter called Isabelle.

To find out more on this condition or to donate go to the charity website or to learn more about Jamie and Rachael's story see here.