Influencer Ruby Natalie announces death of newborn son as she launches charity

Ruby Natalie, 31, told her followers that her son had died shortly after birth in January. Now, she has said she wants to help other bereaved parents.

On January 27, Ruby shared an image of her cradling her newborn, who she called Romeo, in a hospital bed. In the caption, she spoke of her pain at having an “empty womb” and an “empty cot”.

The star was 22 weeks pregnant when she gave birth to Romeo, after contracting sepsis during her pregnancy. On Instagram, she spoke of her anguish of having to give birth knowing she would only get a few minutes with her son once he arrived before he died.

She added: “11 hours screaming in pain with the labour pain but mostly because i was petrified of the aftermath . . . I just really can’t see a way out of this pain, I hope both me and my partner find the strength. Mummy and daddy are going to give you the best send off that you deserve.”

In another post, she also said she needed emergency surgery herself for sepsis after Romeo’s birth. “ I think it got to the point where i was so exhausted and I thought If my time is up my time is up, but the hospital were fighting for me doing everything they could to save me which made me eventually realise I have that fire in me to get better, for my childrens sake,” she added.

Ruby lives with her fiancé Ansis Civzelis, 26, and her two sons Leo and JJ. She started out as a glamour model at age 18 and has 276,000 followers on Instagram.

As she grieves her child, Ruby has set up The Romeo Foundation in her late son’s name, a charity aimed at helping other parents in the same heartbreaking situation.

In another Instagram post, she said “We have started [the foundation] for other grieving parents and the essentials they need and the hospitals. I want to help, as I now know first hand what it feels like to lose a child. If you are going through losing a child.”

Her fiancé Ansis has also started a GoFundMe page called The Romeo Foundation to raise funds to help them buy what they need. On the page, it states that money raised will be used to buy “a selection of blankets, teddies, and other things that [bereaved parents] might need help with through such a difficult time”. The stillborn gowns, hats and so on will be donated to hospitals across the UK so parents can pick them out for their “little angels”.

The page was set up with a £500 fundraising target, but has raised more than £1,000 at the time of writing (on the morning of Wednesday February 12).

• If you have been affected by baby loss, you can ring Sands helpline on 0808 164 3332.