'Cot gives bereaved parents extra time with baby'

A baby loss charity has donated a special cot to the Royal Cornwall Hospital that is designed to give bereaved parents and families extended time with their baby, allowing "memories to be made".

Abigail's Footsteps provides the Abi Cooling Cot for hospitals around the country. The refrigerated unit is designed to allow bereaved parents to spend more time with their deceased child.

The cot at the Truro hospital was donated by Hilary Grierson in memory of her baby, Hamish, who was born asleep on 3 May 2012.

She said: "We weren't able to spend as much time with him as we wanted, because the hospital did not have a cooling cot at the time," she said.

"So, in his name, we have fundraised to help Abigail's Footsteps in their quest to put as many Abi Cots in hospitals as they can."

The cot will be placed in the Daisy (bereavement) Suite at the hospital.

Claire Moors, a bereavement midwife, said: "We are so grateful to Abigail's Footsteps for this generous donation.

"Having a purpose-made Abi Cooling Cot in our bereavement suite will enable bereaved parents to spend precious time with their baby and allow memories to be made," she said.

Each cot costs more than £3,000 and, thanks to fundraisers, the charity has been able to donate more than 250 cots so far.

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