Mel Scott

Finley's Footprints Mel Scott

We held an angel in our arms; he left his footprints in our hearts.

In the first few days after my son Finley was born, I started writing a journal. My husband Baz and I had just come home from hospital without our baby. We had left him with virtual strangers to face the ordeal of a post-mortem alone. The jumbled mess of thoughts raging in my mind was unbearable. At first, I wrote simply to get the thoughts out of my head. I wrote in the hope that I might rest. But after a while, when I started to read back over what I'd written, I saw that what I had to say could be useful.

What does it feel like to lose a child you never really met? How do people cope with such a devastating loss? Shrouded by fear and taboo, the stories of these babies and their parents rarely if ever get heard. Speaking up loud and clear about her own son Finley and the challenging months following his birth, Mel Scott presents a warts-and-all account of life after the loss of a baby. Frank, insightful and moving, Finley's Footprints is an unexpectedly captivating book that gets right to the heart of the meaning of love.

I read Finley's Footprints in one sitting - I absolutely loved it. This is a book that will inspire parents of stillborn babies and bring greater understanding of the issues to a wider public. Nicole Wyborn, midwife and author of A Mother's Tears: a story of stillbirth and life.

An accurate portrait of what parents go through when they lose a baby. Emotionally raw and graphic, Finley's Footprints is also funny in all the right places, showing the glimpses of light at the end of a very dark tunnel. Keiley Tuck, bereavement midwife.

Mel Scott works with people whose lives have been touched by the loss of a baby. The charity Towards Tomorrow Together www.towards-tomorrow.com provides resources, and support services to parents affected by the death of a baby. Finley's Footprints www.finleysfootprints.com provides bereavement training days to professionals, and is the home to The Butterfly Awards (a unique annual event).