A NEWBRIDGE mother who lost her unborn daughter to a rare birth defect will be supporting a Newport charity and counselling centre by running the Cardiff half marathon.

Mother-of-two Jemma Reardon, 32, of Fields Park, credits the Beresford Centre in helping her come to terms with her ordeal in 2013.

Her unborn baby – named Halleah –had developed anencephaly, a condition where during embryonic development part of the brain, skull and scalp do not form and a disorder that affects one in 10,000 births.

“I was suffering beyond my knowledge and it wasn’t until I got into the Beresford Centre that I realised the effects of what we had gone through,” said Mrs Reardon, who works for Klöckner Pentaplast in Blackwood.

“I considered myself to be quite a strong person but it’s not until you sit down and go through it that the scale of it hits you.

“It’s a helpless situation and you don’t know how you’ll get through it. You can’t even imagine how it feels or what to do.

Mrs Reardon and her husband Ryan were referred to the centre by the Royal Gwent Hospital, and attended couples sessions together.

“I didn’t know there was anything like this out there. I found the couples sessions very useful as it gave my husband and I the chance to express our feelings,” she added.

At the time, the couple already had one daughter Harlee, now nine, and last year, the couple welcomed their second daughter, Hope, one.

“The centre is there for mother, and the father, for as long as they need. They helped me through my second pregnancy, providing counselling and just being there,” Mrs Reardon added.

“They knew what I had gone through and as a mother, you are concerned that something similar could happen again.

“For anyone who has suffered from losing a child, my advice would be take your time, but access the support out there. If it hadn’t been for the Beresford Centre, I would not have two happy, healthy daughters and perhaps would not have had the strength to carry on without them,” she said.

Her company regularly participate in the Cardiff 10k, but after training for the shorter run, she decided to step up for the half marathon.

“I feel humbled to be able to help the selfless people at the centre in this way. All the people there are volunteers and I feel inspired to run for them,” she said.

Mrs Reardon has set up a crowdfunding page for her half marathon, which can be found at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jemma-reardon-1?utm_id=33&utm_term2rKJKM9B8.

The Beresford Centre provides advice for women and their partners for a number of sexual and pregnancy matters, from unexpected pregnancies to terminations, stillbirths and other issues.