On October 3, 2015, our daughter Aubrey, was born still, just one day after her expected due date. She passed during early labour as the result of an umbilical cord accident. Our lives forever changed by the words no parent ever wants to hear, “I’m sorry there is no heartbeat”.
A textbook pregnancy, as my OB referred to it, we were never once counselled on loss or its possibility, even within a healthy pregnancy. It was never brought up during any of our prenatal visits hence leaving us in such a state of shock.
Since that time, we have been passionate about creating Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness in addition to financially assisting local, in need families with their funeral expenses.
With the love and support of our family and friends, we have been able to purchase RVH’s only CuddleCot. A CuddleCot is a specially designed, bed side bassinet that has the capability to cool a baby’s body to an ideal temperature which slows the natural deterioration. This allows their baby to remain bed side, giving them more time with their baby prior to any natural changes that will occur.
This gift as we now know, is priceless to loss families. It gives these families the opportunity to create memories that will be paramount in their grief journey and memories they can cherish for the rest of their lives.
We remain steadfast in our commitment to RVH specifically, the Bereavement Program, the NICU and Resource Aids as deemed necessary to improve patient care.
But above all, our awareness campaign(s) will always remain forefront. We believe that awareness drives prevention. This means that spreading the word will allow the conversation(s) to continue hence decreasing stillbirth #’s and also eliminating the stigma associated with Pregnancy and Infant Loss.
The loss of a baby is devastating but our vision, if only just to be able to provide a small level of assistance, will offer solace to a family who is so desperately seeking comfort.
We can not take away the hurt, but we can certainly assist with the burdens that come with a broken heart and empty arms.
Stacy