A mum has praised an organisation for the support she received after her baby was stillborn.

Cheryl Griffiths, who lives at Invicta Park Barracks in Maidstone with her husband Bryan, lost her baby girl Brynn on November 4 at 20 weeks.

The 40-year-old said: "Going through that pain of labour and then having your baby and then the room's just silent, completely silent. You never ever forget that.

"It happens to so many more people than you think, it's just not vocalised.

"Maybe it's because they feel they can't talk about it but you wouldn't talk about living children like that, you wouldn't discard them.

"I still say I've had six children, Brynn was number six, she was my baby. I'll still talk about her, she's still a beautiful pouty lipped little girl."

Cheryl was supported by Abigail's Footsteps, a non-profit organisation who help with bereavement after stillbirth and neonatal death.

They are the sole supplier of the Abi Cooling Cot, which contains a refrigerated system that allows parents to spend more time with their deceased baby than would otherwise be possible, helping them through the grieving process.

The family were able to spend three days together in Abigail's Place, which is a bereavement suite at Medway Maritime Hospital, funded by Abigail's Footsteps.

Cheryl said: "We went through the process, got her dressed, got everything done for her, and then the midwife came to see us and she explained Abigail's Footsteps.

"We went to a one bedroom flat which was absolutely beautiful, really well decorated and it had a very calming atmospheret allowed us to just chill."

Cheryl said that the family were well-looked after and relaxed, and got checked up on regularly.

She described the midwives as gentle, caring, and "absolutely fantastic", and said they were always on call if they ever needed anything.

"To go through that and see a baby that has passed away, a stillborn baby, must mentally take a toll on these midwives," she said.

"But they handle it so professionally and they saw that my husband had everything he needed, I had everything I needed, we were really really well taken care of."

The organisation also provided them with a memory box, where Cheryl's other children can write notes to Brynn, which she said is "refreshing".

"Its amazing, what they provide their service is just astounding," she said.

"I got home and I was like we need to get her home right now, so my husband made contact with the organisation to try and get her home.

"Then we spoke to a midwife and she said we could come up and see her whenever we want.

"We were there every single day bar one because I was exhausted – every single day for the week and a half Brynn was up at the hospital.

"They made me feel so comfortable that Brynn would be treated with respect, kindness and love and treated like one of their own.

"For us to go up and be able to see her as much as we liked was refreshing and I felt contentment."

Cheryl said that without the support from midwives and counselling, she doesn't think she would still be standing today.

"The support is beyond words and without it I would have broken down," she said.

"Anything we needed they were there – a phone call, a text message, anything.

"That time with her has mentally made me content, even though its the hardest process knowing that you can't hold your little girl properly, can't feed her or mother or nurture her the way that you want to because she is obviously sleeping.

"You can't do as much as you would have with your other children and it's devastating but they've make the process easier."

Cheryl works at Barty House Nursing Home in Bearsted and at the Southern Bell pub in Gillingham, and her husband is in the Army.

She is now raising money for Abigail's Footsteps, and has set up a Gofundme.

The money will be used towards counselling for families, as well as facilities for families to spend time with their sleeping babies.

She said: "This is keeping me going. If I didn't have this, I would be a wreck, I wouldn't be able to stand strong, I wouldn't be able to get out of bed in the morning, or get back to work and carry on with normal as can be life.

"Life will never be normal, it's psychologically and emotionally damaging, and it's a traumatic experience to go through. You go through so much pain and have nothing at the end of it.

"I need to do this for other people – everything always happens for a reason, I'm a big believer in that and this is maybe that reason as it me a purpose to keep going.

"Everyone who knows me knows I love my children, and it's the same for Brynn even though she's not here, I'm doing it for her."