It is every mother's nightmare. You give birth to a happy, healthy baby. Then, without warning, the child dies.

In April last year, Jennifer and Chris Reid lost their three-month-old son, Edward, to Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (Sids), previously known as cot death. "Nothing can ever prepare you for the loss of a child," said the north Londoner, 38, who with her husband, has set up the Teddy's Wish charity in his memory. "Especially something that's so unexplained. It makes the grief harder to bear because there's no reason given. It's against the natural order of life.

"No matter what people say to me, I still feel this unbelievable amount of guilt - that I let him down, that I failed to protect him. I still have to deal with that every day, despite medical assurances that there was nothing I could have done."

Teddy's Wish is funding bereavement support and research into Sids, neonatal death and stillbirth, which together account for around 6,000 infant deaths annually.

"It's also our way of parenting Eddie, of still being a mum and dad to him, because it honours his memory by doing something meaningful in his name." Grieving parents needed expert help, as "society doesn't equip us to deal with loss or death very well, especially when it's a child.

"Time gives you more coping mechanisms but it doesn't take away your grief. We had the amazing support of our friends, family and a wonderful counsellor, but because Eddie was so young, it's very hard for people to comprehend this type of loss."

The charity has raised more than £200,000, financing six research projects, including two on improving bereavement services. Another two were funded by the £80,000 brought in from the group's first black-tie dinner two weeks ago.

This was attended by England cricket supremo Andrew Strauss and other sport and TV personalities. Mrs Reid was "very humbled by the success we've had in such a short amount of time. It inspires us to do more fund-raising, to fund more research and bereavement support, so that one day we'll be able to substantially reduce the number of babies lost each year."