An East Kilbride campaigner who won her fight for dedicated baby loss facilities on maternity wards is holding a fundraiser for special equipment this month.
Lou Caldwell, who had to endure the trauma of delivery on a labour ward after her own baby had died, wants to raise £1500 for Cuddle Cots in the new facility at University Hospital Wishaw in Lanarkshire.
Cuddle Cots are cooling pads which can be inserted into any type of baby bed - from Moses baskets to carry-cots and prams.
Lou explained: "The Cuddle Cot allows parents time to say goodbye to the baby they have lost which is really important for grieving families. It would mean a lot to have these cots at Wishaw.”
Lou and her husband Craig have three sons - Cody, 14, Aaron, 11, and five-year-old Noah. Three years ago, at a 12-week scan, the couple’s joy at being pregnant again swiftly turned to anguish when doctors told them their baby had died, and that Lou would have to return to the hospital the next day to deliver. Since then, she has campaigned tirelessly for separate facilities.
The fundraiser for the cots will be held in The Murray Bar in East Kilbride on October 22.
“We are having a race night, karaoke and music plus food,” she said.
“The event will ticketed and if people go to the Baby Loss Unit Facebook page, there will be more details on how to get tickets. I’ve heard so many families tell of how these cots allowed them more time with their baby, so I feel it is important to provide these.”
Lou is also looking for donations to her tombola stall and raffle at the event - contact her through the Facebook page for more information.
A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help Lou go to Westminster to take her fight to have dedicated units across the UK to MPs, with all remaining cash going towards the cots.
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here