For parents who lose a child at birth, parting with a stillborn baby is the first step in a long and difficult grieving process, one that can take a lifetime to come to terms with. A new device called CuddleCot, installed at Lane Regional Medical Center this week by the Ardent Foundation, aims to make that journey a little easier.
The cooling device preserves a stillborn baby’s body in a bassinet or crib so that he or she can remain up to five days in a hospital room, extending the time a family has to bond with, and grieve over, their baby. Families often want to snuggle and hold the baby, dress it, sing to it, take photos, and cry over it, before saying their final goodbyes.
Lori Carruth, director of Lane’s labor & delivery unit says, “About 24,000 babies are delivered stillborn in the United States every year. Losing a newborn brings on a particularly complex grief, because it’s so unexpected and so drastic. Bidding a proper goodbye is crucial to a healthy grieving process.”
The Ardent Foundation was created by Mandy Ducote and Candace Saltaformaggio Muller, who presented the CuddleCot in memory of Jordyn and Brandon Wilkins’ late daughter, Sawyer Grace.
Providing families time with their baby is one of the core missions of The Ardent Foundation. The CuddleCot is internationally encouraged by midwives, bereavement practitioners, still birth/neonatal charities, and academics.
For more information or to support The Ardent Foundation through donation and volunteering, please visit: https://theardentfoundation.com
