As today is Mother’s Day here in the UK, I thought I would share this poem I wrote a while ago about how I feel being an “empty armed mother”:

Am I or aren’t I?
Am I a mother or not?
I did give birth you see
But I have an empty cot

I carried my son inside me
For 33 weeks I felt him grow
I couldn’t wait for him to arrive
I loved him very much, this is so

All the things we would do together
I would sing him songs and read to him
I would tell him about sci-fi and Star Wars
I would always go out on a limb

To tell my son of the world we are in
And teach him to be good and kind
I wanted him to set an example
And grow up knowing his own mind

Instead…….

I am an empty armed mother
I am the one it happened to
No newborn to hold in my arms
No new life care for, it is true

I am one of the one in four
Who lost their babies before they were born
I am the one whose arms are empty
I am the one who feels torn

There were no children before my son
There have been none since he died
I am an empty armed mother
I have no children by my side…