A dad who lost four unborn children in two years is raising awareness of the devastating impact of miscarriage on men.

Matt Burton and his wife Kayleigh lost four babies between April 2011 and April 2013 but became parents a year later after receiving pioneering treatment.

Kayleigh had to endure daily injections for 42 consecutive days during her pregnancy, but thankfully the treatment worked.

The couple are now proud parents to baby Blake, who was born in April last year.

Matt, 29, who works at the University of Huddersfield, said: “Society expects men to carry on, be strong, and look after their wife.

“The reality is that women don’t suffer miscarriages alone. Families suffer miscarriages together.

“For men, there are no physical consequences of miscarriage and so, as miscarriage is quite commonly considered to be a temporary physical ailment, there is often little thought given to how it impacts upon a father.

“Personally, I found miscarriage to be mentally isolating. I felt the need to maintain a strength that society expects of men.

“This meant not telling my wife how I truly felt about things, or hiding things from her that I thought would upset her.

“I think the impact of miscarriage on men is completely ignored in many cases, because people consider miscarriage to be a physical thing that impacts women only.

“Men need to speak about their experiences, as high-profile figures such as Mark Zuckerberg have done, and not be afraid to tell friends or colleagues that they’re grieving. “Having a miscarriage is the death of a child, and it impacts upon whole families.”

After enduring heartbreak and happiness Matt decided to raise money for the Biomedical Research Unit in Reproductive Health at University Hospital in Coventry where Kayleigh, 29, received treatment.

The unit, which helps women who suffer from recurrent miscarriages and infertility, is renowned for its success rates and sees more than 500 new patients every year.

Matt has already raised more than £1,700 and is hoping to significantly boost that total by running the Plusnet Yorkshire ten mile race on October 11.

He has also written a blog to write about the subject of how miscarriage affects men at chasingourhappilyeverafter.wordpress.com

Matt’s charity run coincides with the annual Baby Loss Awareness Week on October 9-15.

To sponsor Matt’s run visit www.justgiving.com/teams/KayleighandMatt