Two best friends who met at work are bonded forever after finding out they were pregnant at the same time - and giving birth on the same day.
Bev Rimes and Hayley Russell, both 34, first became pals when they worked together at the same nursery and bonded over their shared love of Take That.
As they became closer, Hayley confided in mum-of-three Bev about her fertility struggles after the heartbreak of losing two babies.
After finding out she was pregnant with hubby Jason's baby in 2015, Hayley tragically miscarried four weeks into her pregnancy.
The following year she fell pregnant again, but lost the baby at 12 weeks.
For more of the news you care about straight to your inbox, sign up for one of our daily newsletters here
Bev, who has two older kids Alfie, 11, and Archie, eight, with her hub Tim, said: "We spoke about Hayley's losses a lot and I remember telling her she would have a baby one day.
"It made us a lot closer and I wanted to support her as much as I could."
Then, one afternoon in June 2017 while having afternoon tea with her bestie, Hayley mentioned she felt too unwell to have a glass of champagne.
Bev joked she could be pregnant - leading Hayley to pop out and buy a pregnancy test. Coincidentally, Bev started to feel a bit under the weather too.
Each of the women took a test on the same day - and both had a positive result.
Over the moon at her wonderful news, Hayley caught her girlfriends up on the same group chat that Bev was in.
"When I saw her announcement, I was over the moon. I cried more seeing her pregnancy test than I did seeing my own. I was just amazed for her.
"I just couldn't stop crying, it was so emotional."
And when the pair discovered they both had a due date of 10 February, they were even more excited.
After experiencing each stage of their pregnancy together, their tandem journey towards motherhood stepped up a gear when the pair both went into labour on the same night - a month before their due date.
At 5am on 16 January 2018, Bev and Hayley found themselves in adjoining hospital cubicles after each of their waters broke.
Bev said: "I remember hearing Hayley's voice in the next cubicle at the hospital and I just couldn't believe it.
"We had the same due date, then our waters broke four weeks early at the same time.
"Even the midwives said they'd not seen anything like this happen before!"
But the deliveries weren't all smooth sailing and Hayley had a tense moment when her baby's heartbeat began to drop.
For Bev, the turmoil of knowing something was wrong with her best friend in the next cubicle was too much to bear.
"My best friend was next to me, I could hear the heartbeat and I couldn't do anything to help her - it was horrific," she recalled.
Luckily, the moment passed and, after several years of heartbreak Hayley's healthy baby boy Henry was born via c-section later that day weighing 4lbs 13oz.
"When I saw Hayley with this healthy baby, I was so grateful to have my baby, but to see her was just incredible," Bev said.
"It was one of the best moments in my life. It was a once in a million moment. You can never imagine anything like that happening."
Bev's daughter Lilly arrived shortly before Henry, weighing 5lbs 15oz and the best friends were over the moon their little ones shared a birthday.
The pair's friendship was strengthened even further when little Lilly battled sepsis at just three months old and Hayley supported Bev throughout.
Since Lilly and Henry were born, the women have raised the pair "like twins" - with Lilly showing "sassy and confident" qualities like her mum, while Henry is the quieter of the two.
Bev said: "I think Lilly will be sticking up for Henry as they get older."
Did you go through pregnancy with your best friend? Email jessica.taylor@reachplc.com
Until now, they've not been able to enjoy joint birthday parties because of the pandemic, but this year Bev and Hayley organised a party with 30 friends and their kids at a soft play centre as the little ones turned four.
Bev said: "It was wonderful and we'll be looking forward to the date each year for many years.
"We'll still be telling this story on their wedding days!"
