‘My son was stillborn and now I help other parents’

Tommy Ferguson's son Joshua was stillborn in July 2009. His wife had been around 40 weeks pregnant, with no problems up until that point. About one in every 225 births in the UK ends in stillbirth, which is defined as the death of a baby after 24 weeks of pregnancy. There were 67 stillbirths recorded in Northern Ireland in 2019. Mr Ferguson says the first few months after losing their baby were the hardest - he was in "a very, very dark and difficult place". But he realised he could help others, after going to a meeting organised by Sands, the stillbirth and neonatal death charity. Sands NI received funding from the National Lottery Community Fund to tailor support for people during the Covid-19 pandemic. Mr Ferguson now volunteers for the charity, which says it experienced a 30% increase in demand for bereavement support services during lockdown. Video journalist: Niall McCracken