Butterfly Stickers Are Popping Up In Hospitals All Over America, What You Need To Know
By Dreamer
There really is nothing so tragic for a family than the loss of a newborn child. It is a devastating loss for a young mother, and can take years, if not a lifetime to heal emotionally.
Well, we just heard a story about a young couple that were pregnant with twins when they developed medical complications. One twin survived, but sadly the second passed away just a few hours after birth. Now the mother and father are using their grief to help other young parents cope with their pain as well.
Millie Smith and Lewis Cann learned that they were going to have twins, they were overcome with joy, but soon discovered that one of their babies suffered from a life threatening problem.
Millie says “During the scan, the doctor didn’t say anything. I was very excited and loved seeing the little babies, but she was silent. Both Lewis and I immediately knew there must be a problem.”
One of the fetuses was diagnosed with anencephaly, and the doctor gave it only the slimmest of chances of surviving for more than a few minutes after birth.
When she went into labor, Millie had a bereavement midwife on hand to counsel her when the inevitable occurred.
When the baby was born, Millie and Lewis named her Skye, and miraculously, she was able to survive for almost three hours.
Describing that precious time with their daughter, Millie says “We were cuddling Skye when she passed away. This was the worst moment in our lives. I have never ever felt heartbreak like that before. But I am proud that she fought for so long to spend time with us.”
Their other daughter Callie did well, but needed to remain in the neonatal unit for more than a month because of their premature birth and labor complications.
While Callie was in care, the couple would spend all their free time at the hospital with her.
One one occasion, Millie had an exceptionally painful encounter with another couple who were visiting their babies.
Millie describes what happened, saying “None of the other parents knew what had happened or anything about skye. The comment was more innocent and out of humor. A parent of twins turned to me when their babies were crying and said ‘you are so lucky you have just one.’ they weren’t to know that i did at one point have two. But the comment nearly broke me. I ran out of the room in tears and they had no idea why. I didn’t have the heart to tell them what had happened. A simple sticker would have avoided the entire situation.”
And with that, millie and Lewis set out to help other parents who have experienced a similar loss.
She designed a special sticker, a purple butterfly, that hospital staff can place on cribs and incubators to relay a simple message to visitors to the neonatal unit.
The simple device is meant to tell people that the baby in the crib was one of a multiple birth in which the other child did not survive, and to please be mindful of comments that could be hard on new parents who are in mourning.
“I chose butterflies, as I felt it was fitting to remember the babies that flew away, the color purple because it is suitable for both boys or girls,” Smith said.
What do you think of Millie and Lewis’ idea? Share your stories with us here.
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