PARENTS who have lived through the tragedy of stillbirth or neonatal death will be able to spend longer with their babies thanks to the donation of a special cot to the maternity unit at the Royal Cornwall Hospitals NHS Trust (RCHT).

Devised by baby-loss charity Abigail’s Footsteps, an Abi Cooling Cot preserves a stillborn baby until at least the day after the mother’s discharge from the hospital, giving bereaved families as long as three days with their baby before saying goodbye – vital in the grieving and healing process.

Each cot costs over £3,000. The RCHT cot will be located within the Daisy (bereavement) Suite at the Royal Cornwall Hospital in Truro, and was donated by Hilary Grierson in memory of baby Hamish, who was “born asleep” on Thursday, May 3, 2012 at 41 weeks and four days old.

“Since his birth, we do everything we can to ensure his short life is remembered,” said Hilary. “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. So we have fundraised in Hamish’s name to help Abigail’s Footsteps in their quest to put as many Abi Cots in hospitals as they can. Hamish didn’t get to write his own legacy, so we want to write it for him.”

Abigail’s Footsteps was founded by Jo and David Ward in memory of their daughter, who was stillborn at 41 weeks in 2009. The charity has provided more than 250 Abi Cooling Cots to hospitals, and works with NHS Trusts to fund sensitively designed delivery rooms located away from maternity wards.

RCHT bereavement midwife Claire Moors said: “We are grateful to Abigail’s Footsteps for this generous donation. Having an Abi Cooling Cot in our bereavement suite will enable bereaved parents to spend precious time with their baby.”