Brave Kym Marsh has spoken out about losing her son Archie, who died 21 weeks into her pregnancy in 2009. The actress said she wanted to help other women who have gone through a similar experience.
Coronation Street star Kym Marsh has credited her two children and a good support network for giving her strength following the devastating loss of her third child a few years ago.
Kym, 40, lost her son Archie in 2009 at 21 weeks into her pregnancy.
The actress, who plays Michelle Connor in the ITV soap, recently tackled a stillbirth storyline which mirrored her own real-life heartache.
She told The Sun on Sunday: “After Archie died I was utterly lost. I never got to the point of thinking about taking my own life, but I don’t know how I might have felt if I hadn’t had two young children and a good support network around me.
“I know that others who have lost children have found themselves in the same situation as Michelle. I can totally understand how people feel like they can’t carry on.
“When I lost Archie, all I could think was, ‘Why has this happened to me?’
“I had carried a baby for nearly six months and yet what did I have? What was the point in it all?”
In the soap, viewers saw Michelle go into labour 23 weeks into her pregnancy, resulting in the death of baby Ruairi at birth.
Kym says she took on the emotional storyline to help other women.
She told the paper: “I wanted to help women like me, and I wanted to honour Archie.
“I knew it would be really painful but this is an issue that affects thousands of families every year and it’s something that often isn’t talked about.”
She said the family – her two children David and Emilie, and Polly, who is six – still celebrate Archie’s life.
“We always celebrate Archie on his birthday, February 11, every Mother’s Day and at Christmas.
“He is still part of our family. Even though we never got to spend time with him, or even see his eyes open, he’s still my son and David, Polly and Emilie’s brother.”
The actress is an ambassador for the charity Saying Goodbye, which provides support for anyone who may have lost a baby either during pregnancy, at birth or in infancy.
