Chilled cot helps parents grieve stillborn babies

The Cuddle Cot is a cooling system that fits inside a bassinet to keep stillborn babies cool.

A drive is underway to get Auckland equipped with a cot that keeps precious stillborn babies cool, allowing parents to spend more time with their newborn.

The cuddle cot concept came from the UK and arrived on the radar of 37-year-old Auckland mother, Clare Montgomerie about 12-months-ago, following the loss her own baby girl, Kate, due to a placenta abruption.

The cuddle cot is a cooling system which fits inside a small bassinet, preserving babies who have died at birth. It allows grieving parents to spend more time with their newborn - to take pictures, hold their little one and grieve their loss.

"It would have made a huge difference to us because we had to put Kate back in the fridge to preserve her and when she wasn't in the fridge we had to put icepacks around her," Clare remembers.

"I was absolutely beside myself thinking I had to put her in the fridge, she was all alone, it was dark and all I wanted to do was keep her warm," she told the Herald online.

"The thought of having to put another baby in the fridge, God help me, I never want anyone to go through that."

So, on the two-year anniversary of baby Kate's birth last week, Clare launched a Give a Little campaign in a bid to get a cuddle cot for the Auckland and Waitemata DHBs.

Clare, who welcomed a happy, healthy baby Emma six weeks ago - a sister to three-year-old son, Alex - said there are about 70 to 80 little lives lost each year in Auckland alone.

"I know when we were in hospital (with Kate) there was another lady in there (who had lost a baby) as well, so there is at least one family a week saying goodbye to a child."

Each cuddle cot costs about $5000 to import from the UK. Clare hopes she will be able to donate two of them on October 15th, Baby Loss Awareness Day in New Zealand.

There are currently three cuddle cots in NZ donated by bereaved parents in Christchurch, Rotorua and the Waikato.

To find out more about Cuddle Cots and to donate visit A Cuddle to Remember Facebook page.

- nzherald.co.nz