Rebecca Adlington glows alongside husband Andy Parsons at the BBC Sports Personality Of The Year awards after opening up about her heartbreaking miscarriage

Rebecca Adlington looked radiant as she attended the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards at MediaCityUK in Salford on Tuesday.

Former competitive swimmer Rebecca, 34, joined her husband Andy Parsons at the event after she recently opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage.

The athlete has shared her miscarriage journey on Instagram through a montage of moments from when she discovered she was pregnant till her baby Harper’s passing.

The couple looked in good spirits on the red carpet with Rebecca arriving in a purple mini dress with a gold leaf print.

The former I’m A Celebrity star added height to her frame with a pair of gold heels and paired them with a matching handbag in the shape of a gold bow.

Rebecca Adlington looked radiant as she attended the BBC Sports Personality of the Year Awards at MediaCityUK in Salford on Tuesday

The couple looked in good spirits on the red carpet with Rebecca arriving in a purple mini dress with a gold leaf print

Her blonde tresses were styled with a matching purple and gold headband, adding a curl to the front strands. 

Andy looked dapper in a brown velvet blazer which he paired with a matching turtle neck jumper and black trousers.

The couple put on a supportive display as they remained close to one another throughout their time on the red carpet, holding hands as they posed for the cameras.  

The winner of the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award is set to be revealed this evening. 

Mary Earps is the frontrunner to be crowned BBC Sports Personality of the Year after being named on the six-person shortlist.

The England goalkeeper, 30, is the odds-on bookies’ favourite to become the second straight Lioness to land the coveted award following Beth Mead’s triumph last year.

Known as Mary Queen of Stops, the footballer faces competition from Ashes hero Stuart Broad and world heptathlon champion Katarina Johnson-Thompson.

Veteran jockey Frankie Dettori, Europe’s Ryder Cup talisman Rory McIlroy and wheelchair tennis No1 Alfie Hewett are also nominated for the prestigious award. 

The former I’m A Celebrity star added height to her frame with a pair of gold heels and paired them with a matching handbag in the shape of a gold bow

Rebecca and Andy met on dating app Bumble in 2018 – two years after she split from her ex-husband Harry

Former competitive swimmer Rebecca, 34, joined her husband Andy Parsons at the event after she recently opened up about her heartbreaking miscarriage

Rebecca’s blonde tresses were styled with a matching purple and gold headband, adding a curl to the front strands

The sportsperson who tops the public vote tonight will become the 70th winner of SPOTY

The sportsperson who tops the public vote tonight will become the 70th winner of SPOTY.

It comes after Rebecca shared her heart-breaking miscarriage journey on Instagram.  

She posted a sweet montage of moments from when she discovered she was pregnant till her baby Harper’s passing.

The former Olympic swimmer’s video featured her husband Andy Parsons, her daughter Summer, eight, and her son Albie, two. 

In it, Rebecca holds up a positive pregnancy test while on FaceTime, two sonograms of Harper appear, and Rebecca beams at Harper’s gender reveal with Andy and their children, and Andy kisses her stomach.

The video’s last clips show Andy carrying Harper in a tiny basket, numerous cards expressing condolences, and a sweet art piece of Albie’s and Summer’s handprints in red, with Harper’s in grey in the middle.

Rebecca captioned her heart-breaking post: ‘This week we attended a baby service for Harper and whilst it was incredibly emotional, it was also beautifully done and it will stay with us forever. 

‘Even though these past 6 weeks have been so painful, the support we have received has been amazing. 

In the caption of the Instagram post, Rebecca thanked everyone for their support, including her hospital’s bereavement staff

Rebecca shared her heart-breaking miscarriage journey on Instagram on Thursday through a sweet montage of moments 

‘Olivia, our Bereavement Midwife has been an angel. The counselling from @petalscharity has been such a huge help and has already made a big difference and then the constant support of @wezdadmattersuk in just being there has been incredible. 

‘The kindness and love from our family and friends, and all the messages/comments we’ve received have meant more than people will ever realise or know. 

‘Thank you ❤️’. 

Rebecca first announced the loss of her daughter Harper in a devastating late miscarriage in October – after she lost another child at 12 weeks last year.

The former competitive swimmer, 34, took to Instagram on in October to share the horrible news.

She penned: ‘I don’t really have the words right now but unfortunately we went for our 20 week scan this week and they found no heartbeat. 

‘I gave birth to our angel, Harper on Friday at 7pm. We held her, and had time with her. We will forever love her and remember her always.’ 

Rebecca continued by paying tribute to staff at her local hospital, writing: ‘We cant thank the staff at Wythenshawe enough.’

The former Olympic swimmer’s video featured her husband Andy, her daughter Summer, eight, and her son Albie, two (pictured: Albie’s and Summer’s handprints next to Harper’s

She then paid tribute to her husband, saying that his ‘selfless support, love and help is truly amazing. I couldnt of (sic) survived without you.’

‘I don’t have the strength or words right now, and don’t feel ready to share this news. However, I can’t pretend to be OK or fake a smile. I can’t have people ask me how pregnancy is or when I am due as I still look pregnant.

‘We are so truly heartbroken. Our beautiful girl. Rest in peace, the sportswoman ended her post.

Her post was flooded with kind support from her friends and followers who offered messages of support. 

Fellow athlete Greg Rutherford said: ‘Sending love to you. So sorry to read this Becky xx.’ 

Meanwhile fellow Olympian Jessica Ennis Hill posted: ‘Oh Becky I’m sending you and your family so much love. I’m so sorry xxxx.’

Rebecca revealed her third pregnancy in September this year – a year after the couple suffered a devastating miscarriage.

She continued: ‘Even though these past 6 weeks have been so painful, the support we have received has been amazing’

Happy: Andy and Rebecca tied the knot back in August with a Cheshire ceremony, five months after welcoming their son (pictured showing off their wedding rings)

She captioned her social media post: ‘Our own bit of magic Baby number 3 on the way’.

Andy and Rebecca tied the knot back in August with a Cheshire ceremony, five months after welcoming their son. 

The pair met on dating app Bumble in 2018, with the swimmer gushing after their wedding ‘It worked out perfectly for us. We couldn’t be happier’.

The couple started dating two years after the swimmer split from her ex husband Harry, and she previously admitted she was nervous about finding love again.

The couple quickly fell in love and facilities manager Andy moved from Liverpool to live with Becky in Manchester in 2019. 

Rebecca, who won two gold medals at the 2008 Olympics and two bronze medals at London 2012, was previously married to Summer’s father Harry – with the pair splitting in 2016.

As a result of Rebecca’s two gold medal win at the 2008 Summer Olympics, she became Britain’s first Olympic swimming champion since 1988. In 2013, aged 23, she retired from all competitive swimming.

What causes a miscarriage?

It is highly unlikely that you will ever know the actual cause of a one-off miscarriage, but most are due to the following problems:

• ABNORMAL FETUS

The most common cause of miscarriages in the first couple of months is a one-off abnormal development in the fetus, often due to chromosome anomalies. ‘It’s not as though the baby is fine one minute and suddenly dies the next,’ says Professor James Walker, Professor of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Leeds. 

‘These pregnancies fail from the outset and were never destined to succeed.’ Most miscarriages like this happen by eight weeks, although bleeding may not start until three or four weeks later, which is worth remembering in subsequent pregnancies. ‘If a scan at eight weeks shows a healthy heart beat, you have a 95 per cent chance of a successful pregnancy,’ says Professor Walker.

• HORMONAL FACTORS

A hormonal blip could cause a sporadic miscarriage and never be a problem again. However, a small number of women who have long cycles and irregular periods may suffer recurrent miscarriages because the lining of the uterus is too thin, making implantation difficult. 

Unfortunately, hormone treatment is not terribly successful. 

‘There used to be a trend for progesterone treatment, but trials show this really doesn’t work,’ warns Professor Walker. ‘There is some evidence that injections of HCG (human chorionic gonadotrophin, a hormone released in early pregnancy) can help, but it’s not the answer for everyone.’ The treatment must be started as soon as the pregnancy is confirmed, at around four or five weeks.

• AGE 

For women over 40, one in four women who become pregnant will miscarry. [One in four women of all ages miscarry, but these figures include women who don’t know that they are pregnant. Of women who do know that they’re pregnant, the figure is one in six. Once you’re over 40, and know that you’re pregnant, the figure rises to one in four]

• AUTO-IMMUNE BLOOD DISORDERS

Around 20 per cent of recurrent miscarriers suffer from lupus or a similar auto-immune disorder that causes blood clots to form in the developing placenta. 

A simple blood test, which may need to be repeated several times, can reveal whether or not this is the problem.’One negative test does not mean that a women is okay,’ warns Mr Roy Farquharson, consultant gynaecologist who runs an early pregnancy unit at the Liverpool Women’s Hospital. 

Often pregnancy can be a trigger for these disorders, so a test should be done as soon as possible,’ he adds.But it can easily be treated with low dose aspirin or heparin injections, which help to thin the blood and prevent blood clots forming – a recent trial also showed that women do equally well on either. ”We have a 70 per cent live birth rate in women treated for these disorders,’ says Dr Farquharson, ‘which is excellent.’

• OTHER CAUSES

While uterine abnormalities, such as fibroids, can cause a miscarriage, many women have no problems carrying a pregnancy to term. An incompetent cervix can also cause miscarriage at around 20 weeks. 

While this can be treated by a special stitch in the cervix, trials suggest it is not particularly successful, although it may delay labour by a few weeks.Gene and chromosomal abnormalities, which can be detected by blood tests, may also cause recurrent miscarriages in a small number of couples. 

A procedure known as preimplantation genetic diagnosis can help. After in-vitro fertilisation (IVF), a single cell is taken from the developing embryo and tested for the gene defect. Only healthy embryos are then replaced in the womb.

 It is an expensive and stressful procedure – and pregnancy rates tend to be quite low – but for some this is preferable to repeated miscarriages or a genetically abnormal baby.

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