A Nottinghamshire mum is fundraising for a second refrigerated cot allowing bereaved parents to spend more time with babies lost through still birth or miscarriage.
Jane Mann, from Newark, has Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS), a condition which affects one in ten women and reduces fertility.
Jane, 29, has tragically lost nine babies through miscarriage – her latest loss being little girl Valkyrie on June 29.
Jane previously raised £1,600 to fund the Pheonix Cuddle Cot, named after her sixth miscarried child, who died in October 2015.
It is a Moses-like basket complete with a cooling system enabling families to take home their stillborn babies, or those lost through miscarriage, before they go to a morgue.
Jane said the cooling unit was delivered to the Lincolnshire Co-op Funeral Directors, Beacon Hill Road, Newark, last week.
And she said the Moses basket “will be there very soon and will then be ready for use immediately”.
Jane is now fundraising for a second cot, called the Elska and Valkyrie Cuddle Cot, named after her two most recent losses.
The cot will be kept at the The Co-operative Funeralcare, Triumph Road, Lenton.
Jane hopes to raise a further £1,600 for the new cost and has set up an online fundraising page where people can donate; so far, £330 has been raised.
Jane said: “I would love people to donate, as many as possible. While the circumstances are extremely tragic, this is such a beautiful thing and really will help bereaved parents tremendously.
“I think the minimum donation so far is £5. That’s the price of just a couple of coffees on the way to work: something that could be gone without and a donation could be made towards the cot.”
The news comes after a football tournament was organised last weekend to raise money for the first cot.
Similar cots are already used by some hospitals to help support families, including the Queen’s Medical Centre and Nottingham City Hospital.
Jane said: “I’m incredibly proud of getting the Pheonix Cuddle Cot, it means the world to me to make this opportunity possible, to allow parents to keep their babies for a little while longer.
“It’s not just before the babies go to the morgue, once they have had the say to leave hospital for the funeral they go to the funeral home, at that point they can be brought home in the cuddle cot for a few days before going back to the funeral home before for the funeral.
“The Pheonix Cuddle Cot is portable and can be leant out by the Co-op all across Newark and Lincolnshire to families who need one.”
She added a plaque will be delivered to the Co-op displaying the name of her son, Phoenix Aesir Mann, “so his memory will live on forevermore”.
Jane is working with Angel Wings Forever Dressed in Love, a Facebook-based group which provides free clothing, and other memory items, to families to commemorate babies who are stillborn.
Angel Wings Forever Dressed in Love has also raised money for 100 cuddle cots nationwide.
Founder of the company, Michaela Street, said: “Jane, like many of us, has lost babies and so wants to give a small bit of comfort to other grieving families by giving them previous time with their babies.”
Michaela added another Newark mum Trudie Hallam is also fundraising for another Nottinghamshire cuddle cot.
