The Emerikus Land Foundation is a non-profitable organization in honour of our baby girl Emerikus that myself and my husband lost due to Placental Abruption in the early months of 2013. The aim of this page is to raise money to buy many COLD CUDDLE COTS (read more about below) an oppurtunity that we didn't have. These will be given to rural and urban hospitals, to be used by parents that will sadl
y also experience this unimaginable tragedy. The Cold Cuddle Cot will benefit parents, and families in more ways then one. Like our page to join us in our journey to help parents all around Australia! Hello and welcome to our page in honour of our baby girl Emerikus Land who we lost due to Placental Abruption on the 24th of March 2013. Placental Abruption, what was this and why did it happen to me? I'm now probably one of the most educated people on the topic. The odds that we were given in hospital was 1 out of every 10 thousand women face this tragedy. Since this has happened to me, I now know of 6 other couples that have lost their babies under the same circumstances. Sadly, we think these figures are wrong and this is why we want to make families more aware of Placental Abruption as well as other probabilities and causes of still births. Yes, while we are understanding that this doesn't happen to every mother to be, we would love to share our story and perhaps prevent this from happening to anyone else. After having 5 totally healthy stress free pregnancies, of course I didn't think I would ever be that person talking about the loss of our baby girl! But here I am telling our story. I was perfectly healthy, a non smoker, non drinker and had never touched drugs in my life yet after coming out of surgery I was asked "DO YOU USE CO***NE?" I could not believe that they had asked me if I had used co***ne! Apparently this is one of the main causes of Placental Abruptions. While there are different forms of Placental Abruption one of which the Placenta only partially comes away and couples get a better outcome. Ours was unfortunately the worst where the Placenta actually comes completely away and caused us to lose our baby girl. Other causes are car accidents where there has been a force against the stomach, falls which add pressure and pain to your stomach can also cause Placental Abruption. But why it happens to people like me where there has been no good reason is yet unknown. I was asleep and woke with mild pains that got unbearable, knowing within myself that something was wrong. I knew I was not in labour and the fact I was only 36 weeks and 3 days and having 4 other labours I knew it wasn't normal labour pain. So this is a bit of our story as to why we have set this foundation up, join us on the journey of catching our goal. Some Information on the Cold cuddle cots
As a lot of people are unaware as to what a Cold Cuddle Cot is here is a little bit of information about them and the purpose they serve.. A Cold Cuddle Cot. Dealing with the death of a baby is an incredibly difficult time for parents and many bereaved parents wish to spend some time with the baby. The Covercool Cuddle Cot is used to cool deceased neonatals allowing the family time to spend time with the baby whilst the baby is kept cool. It is internationally recognised that parents should be provided with the choice to spend time with their deceased baby and International Position statements/guidance highlight this. The benefits of using the Flexmort Cuddle Cot system are widely accepted by bereavement practitioners across the globe and the system is in widespread use across UK maternity departments and children's hospices. Product details:
Flexmort's Cuddle Cot is small, light and quiet and is designed for use with deceased babies in any moses basket or cot. It can easily be carried in one hand and so can easily be used at home for parents as well as for use within the hospital maternity department. It also provides an additional cooling product for Funeral Directors to enhance their services and was developed with input from SANDS (Stillbirth & Neonatal Death Charity), bereaved parents and maternity departments. NHS Guidance (UK)
NHS 2011 Palliative Guidance states that cooling of the deceased should begin within 2-4hrs of death (smaller babies will require quicker cooling as deteriorate much faster). Historically, this has meant transfer to the mortuary or the use of a Cold Room (grieving in a Cold Room is an unpleasant experience for parents). This guidance now recognises the use of the Flexmort Cold Blanket system as an effective alternative than traditional cold rooms or mortuary fridges. After we lost our baby girl I spent many nights, days, weeks and now months reading stories on other parents that had lost their babies due to Placental Abruption. Each story broke my heart over again and got me wanting to be able to help other families. So one day while reading information on Placental Abruptions I came across the Cold Cuddle Cot and instantly knew this was how we could help other parents. If we could give parents that little bit more extra time with their babies and what a difference this would make. So I searched and read all the information on them I possibly could, and then spoke to my husband that night about them, he was beside me 110%. So our goal is to raise as much money as we can to purchase these cold cots and donate them to City and Rural hospitals all over. Hopefully together we can help make those darkest hours of families lives that little bit better. If we would have known about them when we lost our little girl we would have had 1 within hours of us finding out. We like the idea that they are small, lightweight and non confronting. These come packed in a nice blue box that no one would really even look at twice at. The unit is small enough to be place under the Bassinet, they run 24/7 seven and can be used for a number of days. I read a blog on a family that have used one of these cots over in the UK where they had taken the baby home for 7 days prior to the funeral. While we don't know that the option will be available to be able to take them home from the hospitals just knowing that hospitals are starting to receive and use them is just wonderful for parents. Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about what these cots are and why we have decided to make purchasing these our goal. http://www.mycause.com.au/page/emerikuslandfoundation
