News 12 First at Five; October 1, 2008

AIKEN, S.C. --- Losing a baby can be devastating for a family. It's something that happens all too often in our area. There's a group in Aiken that's out to help you cope.

They're not counselors, they're merely encouragers.

"Where people can open up and share experiences that they've been through," says leader of Hope for Tomorrow Sabrena Metz.

Experiences like a miscarriage, still birth, infertility or early infant loss. It's their hope for tomorrow.

"It's not an easy thing to face a new day and they give me that encouragement," says Cheri Campbell.

Michele Waters, who lost her son in 2001, has a blanket and a poem written by her dad about her son. That's how she remembers him.

"The pain never goes away. I don't expect it to ever go away," says Michele.

But, she isn't alone. In Aiken County, last year 13 babies died from 23 weeks after conception to what should have been normal birth. This year, already 13 babies have died. There are also other babies who have died during the early stages of their life. One of those cases happening just last week when 4 month old Nevaeh Bailey was found dead in her home in Aiken County.

In Richmond County, 46 infants have died of natural causes since 2006, some of them from SIDS. It's those deaths Coroner Grover Tuten deals with all too often.

"No baby should die and when they do, and you can't explain it, then that's... terrible," says Grover.

"This group has opened up some doors for me to talk to other women," says Cheri.

"Unless you've been through it, you can't understand and this is what this is about," says Jill Ballard.

"There is, hope for tomorrow," says Cheri.

Tuten says he's seen more of these deaths recently, but that may be because of better reporting and diagnosing.

The Hope for Tomorrow group meets on the first Wednesday of every month at Millbrook Baptist Church in Aiken on Pine Log Road at 6:45PM.