THE parents of a premature baby who died at just five days old are calling for more bereavement support.

Roy Deacon-Bates was born on June 29 but died from sepsis on July 4.

His family, from Colchester, had five days with him before turning off his life support.

They are now calling for more mental health and bereavement support for parents in their situation.

His mum Beth, 25, said Roy was born at 28 weeks.

She said: “On June 21, I started having heavy bleeding. I went to Colchester Hospital but they sent me home.

“I continued to bleed all over the weekend. On the Monday I went in again but they told me I was fine, they didn’t think I was in labour.

“On the Wednesday, my waters broke and they admitted me. Even then they said I was fine.

“They were going to discharge me on the Friday but I said I wanted to be monitored as I knew something was wrong.

“Within 20 minutes they could see Roy’s heart rate was really bad.”

Beth, who lives near Straight Road, had an emergency caesarian section the following morning.

Baby Roy was rushed to hospital in Norwich as the hospital said he would have better support.

Beth said: “I had to stay in Colchester to recover but my husband Jack contacted me and said I needed to get up there as Roy was really bad.”

Roy was in Norwich for four days before his life support was turned off.

Colchester Hospital is investigating how Roy became so poorly.

Dr Crawford Jamieson, medical director at East Suffolk and North Essex NHS Foundation Trust (ESNEFT), which runs Colchester Hospital, said: “We extend our deepest sympathy to Mr and Mrs Deacon-Bates after the tragic loss of their baby Roy.

“Our clinical and bereavement teams continue to offer their support to the family at this difficult time and we will soon be able to share with them the results of our review into what happened.”

The family was supported by East Anglia Children’s Hospices and now they want to demonstrate their appreciation.

Beth said: “EACH was there for us straight away, they were amazing.

“We went to their Ipswich hospice and they had a special room for Roy. It was nice to still be close to him.

“It was my son Vincent’s second birthday while we were there and they made a birthday cake for him.

“I just wanted more support from Colchester Hospital. I know investigations need to take place but we just wanted answers.”

As well as fundraising for EACH, Beth and her friends and family are raising awareness of the need for support.

She said: “There were some quite interesting statistics during Baby Loss Awareness Week which said about 60 per cent of bereaved parents aren’t receiving support.

“My family and I felt vulnerable.”

So far she has raised £650 for EACH by holding a cake sale and will take part in a half marathon in March.

The family also had great news on Monday when they found out Beth was pregnant again.

She is four weeks along and her baby is due a week before Roy’s first birthday which Beth said will be an emotional time.

To support the family’s fundraising appeal, go to www.justgiving.com/fundraising/rememberingroy.