A mum whose baby died just hours after she was born is still able to hear her daughter's heartbeat, thanks to a new free service being rolled out to help grieving parents.

Lizzie Phillips, from Sittingbourne, was offered a special scan and teddy bear by Expectancy Scanning Studios Ltd in Bobbing, after it was discovered her unborn child, Penelope, had undeveloped lungs and polycystic kidney disease.

The 31-year-old said: "My husband, Andrew, and I had been trying for a baby for seven years.

"We'd been looking into IVF treatment at a local hospital.

"However, we later found out that I was pregnant naturally in the June of 2021.

"Fast forward and I had a bit of a scare at six weeks. I went to the hospital, had a scan and was given the all-clear.

"In my nine-week scan, everything was okay but I then had a scan at Expectancy Studios at 17 weeks for a gender reveal and, unfortunately, Amanda Bastianelli, the owner and director of the clinic, said she couldn't tell me the gender."

Lizzie and her 35-year-old husband were referred to a hospital after it was discovered that there was no amniotic fluid inside her uterus.

The clear liquid surrounds the baby during pregnancy – without it the baby is not protected from injury and is unable to grow correctly.

Lizzie continued: "Amanda said she wasn't happy with what she was finding.

"But we didn't panic and she was very good. Amanda was amazing.

"She did the referral over to the hospital and they said the baby had heart problems.

"They referred us to a London hospital and there they found out the baby hadn't actually got heart problems, but polycystic kidney disease and undeveloped lungs."

Throughout the pregnancy Lizzie and her family were told it was best to terminate the pregnancy as their baby had a 1% chance of survival.

Lizzie said: "We said 'no', we were going to carry on with the pregnancy.

"We kept having scans and things at the hospital but it wasn't a relaxed experience.

"You'd go in and you'd come away for three or four days feeling really rubbish. It felt rushed, it was horrible."

Following the difficult process Lizzie went back to see Amanda at the clinic when she was 30 weeks pregnant.

Lizzie said: "I asked if she could offer me another scan, not to say what's wrong but so I could bring my 11-year-old daughter, Felicity.

"I wanted her to experience a scan, see the baby, see the heartbeat and see her alive.

"Amanda offered us the Forget Me Not experience, she made it such a more relaxed experience.

"It was calming, it was in a quiet room and she gave us all the time in the world."

As part of the free service Amanda gave the Phillips family a scan picture and a teddy bear bunny which was chosen by Felicity.

Inside the teddy bear is a recording of her unborn sister's heartbeat.

Lizzie said: "It was around eight months on, that my daughter gave up the bear and put it away, but we're now coming up to the year anniversary.

"It's such a lovely thing to have as a memory."

A few weeks after seeing Amanda the expectant mother had a bleed at home.

Lizzie said: "I got rushed into the hospital and they did a load of checks and tests.

"They kept me overnight because they couldn't work out where the bleeding was coming from.

"I had stopped bleeding but they turned around and said we better do another scan at the hospital."

During this scan Lizzie was originally told there was no heartbeat.

She said: "But then I felt a kick. I said, you need to check again, I think I felt movement.

'You've got two options either you get the baby out right now and you get time with the baby or leave it inside and you may not get time'

"And then she apologised, and she said, actually, your baby hasn't passed away, but you've got two options either you get the baby out right now and you get time with the baby or leave it inside and you may not get time."

Lizzie and her husband made the decision to have an emergency caesarean.

Lizzie explained: "I thought I was going home that day, and then I was suddenly being rushed off to theatre.

"It was almost like a scene from Casualty – my husband was getting gowned up with his Crocs on.

"It was such a horrible experience.

"I was laying on this bed and being trundled through the ward, and then I hit a set of double doors, then the rest is history. "

Lizzie and Andrew had six hours with their baby girl, Penelope Elizabeth Jane Phillips, on December 20, 2021.

The mum said: "We had lots of photos, lots of memories and hand prints, that sort of thing.

"The hospital were absolutely amazing but if it wasn't for Amanda at the expectancy studios offering me that 30-week scan, my daughter may have not actually seen her in my tummy.

"We wouldn't have got the heartbeat bear and I think it's a really wonderful thing that we've now got. We've now got memories."

Almost a year on from Penelope's death Andrew and Lizzie received test results that concluded both parents carried a gene that can cause an unborn baby kidney and lung failure.

Lizzie finished: "I don't quite understand it all at the moment.

"We're currently waiting for an appointment to see a genetic specialist before we see about trying to conceive again."

Amanda, who supported Lizzie throughout her pregnancy journey, set up her clinic after spending time as a midwife with the NHS.

The 50-year-old said: "Sadly pregnancy outcomes are not always good.

"Individuals and couples are sometimes faced with the devastating news in pregnancy that the baby will not survive, and/or they are advised to end the pregnancy for medical reasons.

"In those heartbreaking incidents the Forget Me Not service is offered free of charge to them.

"We are working with local charities Abigail's Footsteps and Mama Academy to promote the service to the local hospitals and local families."

To find out further information about Amanda's work click here.

She said: "As well as our free service we are continuing to offer fertility, pregnancy scans and tests to self-referral private patients.

"However we are expanding our services and will now be offering antenatal classes, hypnobirthing, infant first aid classes, pregnancy fitness, physiotherapy, reflexology and more."