Kinghorn designer brings comfort to bereaved families

Louise Humpington has created the pieces through her Leviko Designs label to remember babies who have been lost to miscarriage or stillbirth.

The Peas in a Pod pendants commemorate ‘angel babies’ and celebrate the birth of ‘rainbow babies’ – angel babies refer to little ones who have died either through miscarriage, stillbirth or in early infancy, while rainbow babies are children born after the loss of an angel baby.

Louise, whose pieces sell around the world, hopes her jewellery will bring comfort to families and help them talk about what they have gone through.

She is donating 10 per cent of the profits to Sands, the Stillbirth and Neo-natal Death Society, to support its work with bereaved parents.

Louise spoke about her experience during Baby Loss Awareness Week. She said: “I understand the enormity of losing a child, but also the stigma which surrounds early infant loss.

“While my husband and I were living and working in Papua New Guinea I fell pregnant and we planned to move back to the UK. I returned to England on leave, but a few days later I started bleeding and knew something was wrong. I was immediately referred to a specialist at the local hospital and a scan revealed I had suffered a miscarriage. Because of the circumstances I had to undergo surgery.

“When we had our rainbow baby it struck me I would like to make a pea pod which reflected my journey, with a white pearl for our angel baby and a rainbow bead for my son. I then expanded the range to include other colours and types of beads to symbolise different situations.

“These pieces are designed to empower families to acknowledge their loss, to help normalise the narrative around miscarriage and stillbirth, and to help people heal. Each one is designed specially for the client.”

Louise, who now has two children, Isaac and Quinn, continued: “I designed this range just over a year ago, and launched it just before Pregnancy Loss Awareness month last year. It’s been an amazing year and I am thrilled with the positive response they have received.”

Locally Louise is part of an artists co-operative who sell their products through the Seawitch Gift Shop on Kinghorn High Street.

And in her own Etsy store she also sells her pendants internationally to places as far away as France, Canada, the US and Australia. She added: “Every day I receive messages from all over the world. It’s so heartwarming but also heartbreaking to hear just how much these tokens mean to people.”