Local mums Amie Gunther and Samantha Cox presented the St John of God Hospital with a cuddle cot for families who have lost their babies through stillbirth, genetic interruptions or neo-natal losses. 87115 Picture: DONNA OATES
By Danielle Galvin
GRIEVING parents will have the chance to say a proper goodbye to their babies who have passed away with St John of God Hospital’s new cuddle cot.
Local mums and members of the support group Mums Like Me have fund-raised to purchase the cuddle cot for the Berwick hospital to give parents a few more precious hours or days with their little angels.
Emerald’s Amie Gunther led the fund-raising for the cuddle cot with her mum, who works at the ANZ bank in the town and Hillsborough Excavations also donated money to the cause.
Amie lost her son Zac Kemp and said saying goodbye was one of the hardest things she’ll ever do.
“We wanted to raise the funds so that other people can have that time with their babies,” she said.
Samantha Cox, who lives in Berwick, had a similar experience to Amy. Her son passed away after she gave birth at one of the metropolitan hospitals.
She said the cuddle cot is the first and only one in Victoria, even though the cots are available across the UK.
“We have purchased the first three in Australia, and we’re hoping that other hospitals get on board when they see the benefits to them,” she said.
“So far other hospitals we’ve approached haven’t been interested yet.”
Both Amie and Samantha are excitedly awaiting the birth of their babies. Samantha is due later this month and Amie is due in early January.
But the mums believe it’s important for other families to have time to say goodbye to their babies who have passed on.
“It’s about having time with their babies, instead of having to send them away,” Amie said.
Erin Hartigan is the founding member of Mums Like Me. Samantha was contacted by a mum who had lost one of her twins to stillbirth.
“It was important for her to take both babies home for some family time and photos,” Samantha said.
“This was difficult to do as it is hard to preserve such a small baby for that period of time and it was then that she decided she wanted to somehow raise the funds to purchase a cuddle cot in memory of her baby.
“Erin agreed to assist her with this and it started from there.”
Mums Like Me also provide memory boxes to hospitals, as well as sibling packs for brothers and sisters to remember them.
“They have little wristbands that say ‘I’m the brother or sister of an angel,’” Samantha said.
For Amie, being involved in Mums Like Me is a way to get support from other mums, who like her, are dealing with the death of a child.
“It’s about connecting with other mums like us, who have lost babies to stillbirths, so that they know they are not alone,” she said.
Elaine Grant, midwife at St John of God said the hospital was grateful for the work of the local group.
“This equipment will make a huge difference to families,” she said.
“Normally, there is only a limited period of time families can stay with their baby, this equipment changes that completely.”
Mums Like Me has donated one cuddle cot to St John of God, at a cost of $3500, another has been donated to the Woman’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide and the other will remain with Mums Like Me at their New South Wales headquarters.
The group holds meetings on the second Monday of each month at the Berwick Neighbourhood House from 7.30pm-9.30pm, strictly no children at the meetings.
There are also plans for candlelight event at 7pm on 15 October, to mark the International Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day. The venue is yet to be confirmed.
