A FATHER whose wife suffered three miscarriages before giving birth to a premature baby is to run the London Marathon to help raise money for pregnancy research.

Cromwell Community College teacher Jon Scotland and his wife Em almost gave up trying for a baby after two unsuccessful pregnancies, with one at 13 weeks and another at 10 weeks.

The couple were fortunate enough to give birth to Lily-Mei at their third attempt but found it was far from plain sailing, with Lily-Mei being born nine weeks premature and needing round-the-clock care for five weeks at a Special Baby Care Unit.

Last year they tried for a second child but lost their child-to-be after a third unsuccessful pregnancy in October 2011.

Mr Scotland, 31, will now run the marathon and a raffle with a shirt signed by Olympic legend and Strictly Come Dancing star Louis Smith in an attempt to raise �2,500 for the charity Tommy’s, which helps to fund research into premature births and miscarriages.

“This has been such a traumatic journey for us and we couldn’t imagine anyone else going through the same,” Mr Scotland said.

“If Tommy’s is able to reduce the chances of another family going through the same I hope that we can help in any small way we can.”

Mr and Mrs Scotland, who live in Huntingdon, lost their first baby in February 2009.

“Despite going through this twice the hospital was unable to give us any reasoning as to why it may be happening and in fact said that we would have to go through this pain three times before tests were done.

“This I find an incredible ask of people and unacceptable. It is for this reason why I am supporting Tommy’s research.”

To donate, visit the website http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/jonrunningfortommys