Bereaved woman founds popular jewellery business to ‘commemorate’ unborn babies at the size they were miscarried

A woman who made a ring to “commemorate” how small her baby was when she miscarried at seven weeks has founded a jewellery business to “break the stigma” around pregnancy loss.

Jess Roberts, 32, based in Fulham, west London, discovered she was pregnant in June 2023 with her then-partner, but she sadly lost her baby in July when her nine-week scan revealed there was no heartbeat.

After undergoing two “traumatic” surgeries to remove the pregnancy tissue from her uterus, where a complication left Jess “close to sepsis”, she felt the need to honour her baby and grieve.

Searching high and low online but not finding items relating to early pregnancy loss, Jess had a ring made for herself to represent the size her baby grew to before it was miscarried, symbolised by a blueberry made of sterling silver.

Jess, who is now single and does not have any children, felt others may find themselves in her position and she decided to turn 18 gestation indicators into ring pendants, starting with a poppy seed to represent the beginning of life and ending with a banana for 21 weeks.

Leaving her former job in wellness in February 2024, she has gone on to make a full-time career from her jewellery company Little Santi Designs, from which Jess receives around 150 orders every week from bereaved women across the world.

“I wanted to do something to commemorate this little life and not be forced to brush past it or act like it never happened,” Jess told PA Real Life.

“There is still a bit of stigma or shame in talking publicly about miscarriage because of the fear of making others uncomfortable.

“Support is out there though and you shouldn’t feel like you have to bottle it up or not speak about it.”

Jess found out she was pregnant in June 2023.

“I had quite a few early scans straight away because I was quite ill,” Jess said, adding she suffered with “extreme” morning sickness.

“I had some other complications, such as an ovarian cyst, so they were scanning me every two weeks.

“We saw my baby’s heartbeat at my seven-week scan and when I went for my nine-week one, it was no longer there… it was obviously an immense sadness.”

Jess had a silent miscarriage at the end of July 2023, where the baby has died but it has not been physically miscarried.

She had two dilation and curettage (D&C) surgeries in August 2023 with the aim of removing the pregnancy tissue from her uterus.

“Unfortunately, mine went wrong and I had to be rushed back in to have a second one, it was all very traumatic,” Jess explained.

“I was quite poorly and quite close to sepsis.”

After the second operation, Jess was able to make a full recovery but the experience quickly left her wanting to find a way to “commemorate” the loss.

“I have a picture of me in the hospital holding up my hand to show my friend what I was thinking with the jewellery,” she said.

“I wanted something for myself to show the baby had existed.”

Jess said she started to look online but found nothing seemed fitting for her early pregnancy loss.

“They have lovely things for later on but when I was looking, it just felt like there was nothing truly special enough,” she explained.

After going onto her pregnancy app, Flo, to switch it back to “not pregnant”, which she said was “horrible”, Jess noticed the app displayed the size her baby had grown to – which was illustrated by different fruits for each week.

“That’s the only thing I actually knew as a constant, the whole way through and even that early on,” she said.

Jess designed a ring with a sterling silver blueberry pendant for her to wear which symbolised the size her baby had grown to at seven weeks.

She then realised other bereaved would-be mothers could also benefit from her creation.

“I never really thought of it as a business idea, it was just a little passion project,” she said.

“I just thought there must be so many other people in the same position as me.”

Jess then designed 18 early gestation indicators for jewellery pendants, concentrating on rings.

A poppy seed pendant symbolises the very start of life, a sesame seed represents five weeks, a lentil shows six weeks and a blueberry is used for seven weeks.

Jess also selected a strawberry to represent 10 weeks, a peach for 14 weeks and a mango for 19 weeks – going up to 21 weeks which is symbolised by a banana.

In December 2023, Jess launched the website for her company named Little Santi Designs – a nod to the baby she lost which she would have called Santi if it was a boy.

In January 2024, one of Jess’ TikTok videos showcasing the business went viral, causing it to boom in popularity until she was able to leave her former job in wellness in February and work on her company full time.

Jess now receives around 150 orders each week and the rings, which are made in India and are priced at £38 for sterling silver or £64 for gold, have been shipped all around the world.

While Jess first hand-packaged each ring herself from her home, she has since enlisted the help of a warehouse based in Birmingham – but she will still stamp every box herself.

On the response from her customers, Jess said it has been “overwhelming”.

“I didn’t expect to find a community with it,” she said.

“The best bit has been people supporting each other and they can be from opposite sides of the world – it’s become a really nice support system.”

Jess has also created a ring for those undergoing IVF treatment, symbolised by three small circles within a larger one, and she has also received requests for later pregnancy losses and male jewellery.

“My ultimate goal now is that everyone feels there is something for them,” she said.

To find out more, visit Little Santi Designs at: littlesantidesigns.co.uk.