The Beautiful Scar project, a leading Denver based, non-profit geared towards supporting newly bereaved parents (by providing them with comprehensive information and resources to assist in in making difficult eternal care decisions), donated a critical medical equipment device to Rose Hospital on October 5, 2017 in honor of Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month. The Cuddle Cot is a piece of medical equipment, similar to a refrigerated bassinet, that buys precious time for parents and family members to make memories with their baby before they must say goodbye.
October marks Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness month and in honor of all babies gone too soon, The Beautiful Scar Project donated the first cuddle cot in the Denver Metro Area to Rose Medical Center A short ceremony marked the occasion. “One in four expecting parents will lose their baby during the term of pregnancy and there are 26,000 stillbirths in the Unites States alone. The amount of shattered hearts in this world due to the loss of their baby or babies is astounding. I know this because my husband and I are the one in four; we’ve lost three babies to miscarriage and one to stillbirth. Not a day goes by that we don’t think of, and miss, our four babies.” -Kim Woods.
The average amount of time a family gets with their child varies, depending on if the baby was delivered via C-Section or traditional birth. This time frame could range from several hours spent with their baby up to several days; regardless, it will never be enough time to create the lifetime of memories the family has had taken from them. Due to the fragility of the baby after birth, most babies will be taken to refrigeration several times while in the care of the family in the hospital to preserve them as long as possible. The purpose of the cuddle cot, is to buy precious time for the family to bond with the child, and say goodbye, with more dignity, which aids in the grieving process. The cuddle cot/Caring Cradle allows for the baby to remain in the room with the family at all times, if they so choose, to gain back the precious time lost by refrigeration outside of the room. Precious time that has never been a part of the equation for families who have lost a child.
“I think if you ask any parent who has lost a baby, or any child for that matter, they would tell you that what they long for, what they wish they could have more of, is time. We always want more time.”
– Kim Woods
The Beautiful Scar Project is a non-profit organization serving families in the Denver area, created by Scott and Kim Woods after their son, Caleb Calvin, was born still on December 12th, 2011. “Upon learning of the Cuddle Cot and Caring Cradle, we were immediately struck by a sense of longing as to what could have been if we had this incredible resource available to us when we were in the hospital with Caleb. Every moment counts when your baby has died and access to a Cuddle Cot would have allowed us to create even more memories, spend even more precious time with our son who we knew we would have no choice but to say goodbye to. We want to provide other families the opportunity to have as much time as possible with their baby; it’s what we wish we could have had with Caleb.” The Beautiful Scar Project’s mission is to provide families grieving the death of their infant due to miscarriage, stillbirth, and neonatal death the tools to turn the loss of their much loved and desired baby into a beautiful scar. Providing help and hope to grieving families was developed by Kim and Scott as a way to make a difference within this community. Moving forward with dignity and grace, while recognizing the anticipated child’s loss and subsequent incorporation into the family’s story is a very important part of many families healing process.
“You’re up against a clock, so to speak. The amount of time you are able to spend with your baby depends largely on your insurance and the method of delivery of your baby which determines the length of your hospital stay. There is so much already out of your control and you are acutely aware of what is coming; what you’re going to have to do at the end of your time in the hospital which is say goodbye to your child. You are desperate to spend whatever precious time you can with your baby because that’s all you get. In those moments, in that hospital room, that is all the time you get to spend with your baby. Had the hospital had a Cuddle Cot, we could have spent more time with Caleb before we had to do one of the hardest things we’ve ever had to do- say goodbye and leave the hospital without our son.” –Kim Woods
