A mother who suffered the trauma of a still birth has set up a support group for women coping with the same heartache.

Andrea Strickland, whose baby Katie died in her womb, has founded the Airedale branch of the Still Birth and Neonatal Death Society.

Mrs Strickland, 36, a mother of two - Samantha aged five and Joshua, 11 months - lost Katie on January 18, 2000.

She was born seven weeks premature, weighing 3lb 8oz.

"I wanted to get something positive out of this awful tragedy. I wanted to feel that Katie's birth had not been wasted," said Mrs Strickland, of Keighley.

About ten babies a year are registered as still born at Airedale General Hospital, Steeton.

She has set up the group, covering Keighley, Craven and Ilkley, with the help of Sue Stone, a midwifery sister at Airedale Hospital.

Mrs Strickland said: "At first there are midwives and GPs and everybody else giving you support.

"I felt desperate after her birth. I had lots of support from my family and they helped me get through it. But eventually all the support systems are ended and you're facing a blank wall.

"People avoid you in the street. They see my face and are afraid of what I'm going to say, so scurry off," she said.

To find a support group after Katie died she had to travel to Bradford. "All the people I spoke to, midwives, GPs and health visitors, said there was a need for a support group in Keighley," she added.

"Lots of people don't realise what still birth is. The baby is born naturally.

''You have to go through labour and deliver the baby knowing it will never live."

The support group would welcome fathers as well as mothers and the meetings would be an informal gathering of people who had suffered the same trauma, she said.

Meetings would be held on the first Thursday of the month at the anti-natal unit at Airedale Hospital.

The first meeting is planned for December 6 from 7pm to 9pm.

People interested in the work of SANDS (Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society) should telephone (0207) 436 5881 or Mrs Strickland on (01535) 610372.