Life after the loss of a baby: ‘The most cherished treasures we have are the pictures of Isabelle’

Collette O’Toole hoped she would get a few hours with her baby after she was born. Sadly, Isabelle didn’t make it that far, writes Noel Baker

Plenty of things are unimaginable until you have no choice but to imagine them.

The Christmas before last, Collette O’Toole and her partner Tom took their son to see Santa at Fota, outside Cork City. Then, later that afternoon, Collette and Tom went to pick the grave for their as-yet-unborn daughter, Isabelle.