Mum’s agony after announcing her pregnancy at her wedding then miscarrying just weeks later… and now she can’t bear to see photos of her ‘tainted’ day

A MUM-of-two who excitedly announced she was pregnant on her wedding day has spoken of her agony after miscarrying just weeks later.

Jessica Rida, 35, from Torquay, has bravely shared her tragic experience following Charlotte Church’s announcement that she’s lost her baby with partner Jonathan Powell.

Jessica and her partner of nine years, Sam, 36, battled fertility problems for years before eventually conceiving their daughter Lilly-May, now five, in 2012 through intrauterine insemination (a treatment that involves placing sperm inside a woman’s uterus to facilitate fertilisation).

In 2014, just a week before the couple's summer wedding, Jessica was stunned to discover she was pregnant.

“It was a massive but lovely shock,” she told The Sun Online.

“I didn’t know what to do and I knew people would ask me why I wasn’t drinking.

“Although it was early, about five weeks into the pregnancy, Sam and I agreed to announce it at the wedding.

“We thought it would be a nice moment because everyone knew the trouble we had gone through the first time.

“I’ve never really been superstitious. I’ve never been the sort of person who thought, ‘don’t say something in case it goes wrong’. I go with the flow.”

Jessica’s husband Sam announced their baby news in his speech before giving a toast.

Jessica said: “I started welling up, it was so emotional. The room just erupted. At the time it was an amazing feeling to know how loved we were.”

The wedding photographer captured hundreds of images of Jessica and Sam touching her belly, and celebrating with their families.

“At the time, my dress had started to become slightly snug. I’d started to fill out a bit so I was really uncomfortable on the day. I had the pregnancy bloat,” she said.

After the wedding, the couple headed off on a week-long mini-moon to Devon.

Jessica recalls feeling a "bit ropey" before the nausea disappeared. The sickness then returned when the couple got back home.

“I’m certain I felt a kicking and moving, I was just going with it and enjoying it,” she said.

“It was natural. After all the years of fertility treatment we wanted to enjoy it. We had names, where the baby was going to go, babygros…”

But then, during her 12-week scan, Jessica was dealt some devastating news.

“I remember the nurse putting up the picture and it was a black sack. I froze,” she said.

“I had a tingly sensation that something was not right. I said, ‘it’s empty’. I was already in maternity trousers. I was already showing. I just didn’t get it and didn’t understand.”

Jessica had experienced a missed miscarriage, where the foetus dies but the body does not recognise the pregnancy loss.

As a result, the placenta can continue to release hormones and the woman continues to experience pregnancy symptoms.

“I completely lost my mind. I couldn’t understand it. As a woman you feel like a failure, like you did something wrong. It was like those three months were a complete lie,” she said.

“They had to remove the sack and everything even though the baby wasn’t there. I was full of confusion and anger.”

Jessica returned home and broke down after seeing her wedding photographs.

“The first one the photographer sent was an image, just after the speech, of me hugging my mother-in-law and we’re both crying because we’re happy about the baby,” she said.

“Even now it feels a bit tainted. A lot of our wedding pictures are hidden away because, although I’ve dealt with it now, I don’t want the pictures up.”

Then the realisation hit that she’d have to tell all of her friends and family the heartbreaking news.

“We had told literally everyone we know. I rang up one of my closest friends and my family then I did a Facebook post just briefly explaining what had happened,” she said. “Then I turned my notifications off and left it.”

Charlotte Church released a statement on Twitter on June 26, 2017, with her tragic news, saying: “Charlotte and Jonny are very sad to announce that they lost their baby.

“Now is a time for grieving and being together as a family. We kindly ask everyone to respect that peace.”

The 31-year-old singer announced she was pregnant with partner Jonathan’s baby live on stage on May 28 at Birmingham Pride.

Jessica added: “I had regrets, massive regrets straight away. I thought, ‘why did I tell people?’ It wasn’t that I wanted the limelight. It was our special day and I wanted to make it more special.

"When I had to tell everyone I felt stupid. I was overwhelmed by the situation.”

Jessica has since given birth to the couple’s second child, son Leo, who is now 18 months old.

“I went on to have another child, I was lucky. But after you’ve experienced something you have to be careful. Every moment, we kept it quiet, we didn’t tell anyone at all until 13 weeks," she said.

"When the 12-week scan arrived I was physically sick through nerves. That continued throughout the entire pregnancy, I couldn’t relax or enjoy it as I was petrified.

“I wouldn’t wish it [miscarriage] on my worst enemy. For anyone to go through that is a horrible experience."