A BIRCHWOOD family are set to star in a national campaign video that will help to change people’s views of Down Syndrome.

The video will be the centre point of Wouldn’t Change A Thing Foundation’s bid to mark World Down Syndrome Day later this month.

Hayley Lack is a busy mum of five and step mum to one and works full time as a nurse at Warrington Hospital.

Six years ago, when she was pregnant with her daughter Evie, she received insensitive and unhelpful advice about the possibility that her daughter might be born with Down Syndrome.

Since then, the 41-year-old has worked with different charities offering support to families with a prenatal or postnatal diagnosis of Down Syndrome.

This year, she has spent time working as a project manager for Wouldn’t Change A Thing Foundation – a charity aimed at making negative perceptions of Down Syndrome a thing of the past.

Hayley said: “My own pregnancy and birth was a very emotional time as I was given outdated information, made to feel worthless and not supported at all at the many appointments I attended.

“I was told my daughter probably didn’t have Down Syndrome and I was instead told that if I had an amniocentesis for diagnosis, then I would have plenty of time to ‘do something about it’.”

She added: “When pregnant with a child with Down Syndrome, you can abort the pregnancy at any point up until the child enters the birth canal.

“I declined the amniocentesis and knew I was having my baby regardless of any diagnosis.”

Since Evie was born, Hayley has helped and supported families of children with Down Syndrome and one of the most common questions parents ask is how the diagnosis will impact the new baby’s siblings.

Hayley said: “We had to come up with an idea for this year’s Down Syndrome Day and I wanted to create a video featuring children with their brothers and sisters.

“I hope this year’s campaign will go a long way towards answering the question so many parents have about their children.”

Six-year-old Evie and four of her siblings will feature in this year’s campaign which will look at 50 families of all ages across the country.

The video will be launched on March 14, one week before World Down Syndrome Day on March 21.