Former Home and Away and Neighbours star Christie Hayes has spoken about the miscarriage that she experienced late last year, saying that the loss of her baby “ripped my heart out”.

Hayes shared the news that she had had a miscarriage a week after it happened in December, and she has now opened up to New Idea about her feelings around the loss.

Explaining that she and her husband, radio announcer Justin Coombes-Pearce, had “been trying for a little while” to conceive, she said that the “stars all aligned” when she discovered that she was pregnant.

Sadly, after the couple had just started to share their news with their loved ones, Hayes discovered that she was having a miscarriage.

“Losing our baby ripped my heart out,” she said. “Justin was devastated too.”

The actor decided to share the news of what had happened on Instagram, explaining that “it was a no-brainer for me to speak out”.

“I felt like if I didn’t say anything about our pregnancy, our baby doubly didn’t exist,” she said, adding that she was surprised to receive huge numbers of messages from people who wanted to share their own experiences.

“It’s not something any of us want to ever go through but I was really touched that people felt safe enough to tell me their stories,” she said.

The actor, who shares sons Hendrix and Harley with her ex-husband, added that she still lets herself “grieve” for the baby that she lost, and said that she and her husband are hopeful that they may fall pregnant again in future.

“We are living and loving our lives and believe if it happens, it will happen when it’s meant to,” she said.

Hayes is best known for playing Kirsty Sutherland on Home and Away between 2000 and 2005, and again from 2008-2009.

She also starred in Neighbours in 2019 as Ebony Buttrose, the fiancée of Pierce Greyson.

Organisations including Sands and Tommy’s are able to offer help and support to anyone affected by baby loss.