Australian Rugby Star and Wife Sarah Reveal Heartbreak After Losing 4 of 5 Babies

Stock photo of a baby's feet. (Vitamin/Pixabay)

A mother opened up about her heartache after losing four of her five children after giving birth multiple times since 2012.

Sarah Mumm and husband, Dean Mumm, a former Australian rugby union star, said that their daughter Sophie, son Henry, and twins Ella and Grace died shortly after birth.

“It is soul destroying going through the pain of labor, knowing your child will not be alive at the end. Knowing that the moment the labor is over there will be no cry of life. Just silence,” Sarah told the Daily Mail.

During their first attempt at having children in 2012, the couple said that everything seemed to be going well during Sarah’s pregnancy.

After about 20 weeks, however, Sarah said that doctors found evidence of pre-term labor.

“At this stage, I was at serious risk of losing our daughter and the only option we had to try and save her was to put in a cervical cerclage [a row of stitches] but an hour after the suture was put in my waters broke,” she told the Mail.

When she went into labor, tragically, “Sophie was too little to survive and she passed away,” she said, adding that the girl’s “heartbeat was strong however we knew she couldn’t continue to develop and survive.”

Sarah added, “She was beautiful, completely developed however just far too little to ever survive.”

Six months later, she said the two learned they were having another baby. During her second pregnancy, she was monitored by obstetricians.

However, she again suffered from a placental bleed and was taken to the hospital

“His birth was very traumatic for us as his heart rate was going up and down throughout the labor and we feared he would not survive it,” she said of her baby, Henry.

He was safely delivered, however, the boy contracted an infection due to being premature, and he succumbed to it about nine days after delivery.

For her third child, Sarah said she had anxiety because she might lose another child, according to The Sun.

But Alfie, the boy, was born at 36 weeks. He spent 24 hours in the NICU and another five days in special care.

“We can’t quite believe that he is ours and that we got to take him home,” said Sarah.

The couple later found that they were going to have twins. Again, the babies were born prematurely after developing twin-to-twin syndrome. Both ultimately passed away.

“It was without a doubt one of the worst days we have ever had but at the same time incredibly special because we got to meet and hold our twins. It was our only time with them and they were beautiful, lovely little girls,” Sarah said.

In the end, the couple said they’re grateful for the opportunity to be parents to their young son Alfie.

“We remain very grateful that we can experience parenthood rather than just being a mother and father,” she said. “We have five kids and we love them all, yet we only get to parent Alfie and we really appreciate that opportunity.”