The CuddleCot will help UAB nurses and doctors guide grieving families through the infant loss process. When a family finds out they are pregnant, they imagine and plan for the delivery of a healthy, happy baby. Often parents pick out names, decorate bedrooms and have baby showers, but never do parents expect to not bring their baby home from the hospital.
Unfortunately, many families experience infant loss before, during or shortly after birth. In Alabama, 7.4 babies out of 1,000 born will pass away before or at birth, with a baby passing away nearly every 13 hours, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Often infant loss occurs due to premature birth, birth defects, trauma or sometimes unknown causes.
To help with the grieving process for parents who have experienced infant loss, the University of Alabama at Birmingham Women and Infants Center now owns a CuddleCot, a Moses basket with a cooling pad and accompanying system that helps preserve the body of a newborn for as long as the family needs. The CuddleCot was donated by He Knows Your Name Ministry.
The CuddleCot enables families to keep their baby in-room and close by, giving parents the chance to bond with their child and have a few moments of normalcy.
Kristy Benefield, bereavement coordinator in UAB’s WIC, says the most important aspect of the CuddleCot is the intangible that it gives to families — time.
“The CuddleCot gives parents precious time to grieve and bond with their baby, time that many families don’t realize they truly need,” Benefield said. “It’s time that they can hold, bathe and dress their baby, have siblings and other families members meet their child, take photographs, and simply make memories with their infant.”
The portability of the CuddleCot will allow UAB nurses to move the small device between floors and units in the WIC. Parents will have the ability to keep their children in the adjoining Moses basket, or even keep them on the bed with Mom, thanks to the movability of the cooling pad.
While some families are aware and prepared that their child will not live upon birth, there are also families who experience infant loss unexpectedly. Regardless of circumstance, Laura Money, nurse manager of Women and Infants Services, believes having the CuddleCot will positively impact the care UAB nurses and doctors are able to provide families.
The CuddleCot enables families to keep their baby in-room and close by, giving parents the chance to bond with their child and have a few moments of normalcy. “We have always let the families have as much time as they needed with their child after loss, but the CuddleCot will help restore a sense of integrity to the grieving process,” Money said. “With the CuddleCot, we can really individualize care for each family and ensure we are helping them maximize beautiful time as a family, spanning hours or days based on their needs.”
To have one CuddleCot is a luxury for UAB and other hospitals, but WIC nurses expressed their desire to be able to provide CuddleCot care for more than one family at a time in the future.
“To be able to have a few CuddleCots at UAB one day would be a tremendous blessing for the families who could receive irreplaceable memories with their child,” Benefield said. “We’re often caring for more than one family in this position at a time, and my hope is that one day we can provide this care for each family who needs it.”
To learn more about CuddleCot and how to donate to UAB’s CuddleCot fund, please visit here.