Couple fundraising for 'cuddle cots' to help parents of dying children

Lera Grace Kiers died minutes after being born at the Royal Alexandra hospital in December. For her parents, the two extra days they were able to spend with their daughter were precious.

“If I had to say hello and goodbye to my daughter in the same breath, I think that would have been overly traumatic,” Jenelle Kiers told CBC’s Edmonton AM Tuesday.

“There’s no words to describe it.”

Now they couple is raising money for a simple technology to give other parents time with their dying infants.

Jenelle and her husband Stephen were told 21 weeks into their pregnancy that their daughter’s rib cage was improperly formed and that she wouldn’t survive long past birth.

The couple decided to continue with the pregnancy, wanting to spend as much time with Lera as possible.

Lera was born on Dec. 6 and died 15 minutes later. She was then placed in a device called a “cuddle cot,” an air-conditioned bassinet that helps parents spend more time with their children after birth.

“We got a small bit of family time,” Stephen said.

Hear Jenelle and Stephen Kiers talk about cuddle cots on Edmonton AM

On mobile? Hear the interview here

“It was our time that we were able to to have pictures of her, introduce her to family who wanted to meet her. For Janelle to cry over her. To just say goodbye when it was time.”

The Royal Alexandra, which deals with high-risk pregnancies, was one of the first hospitals in North America to use the devices when they received one six months ago.

Kiers said the two days she got to spend with Lera were priceless. After the stress of having a C-section, and the fuzziness of anaesthesia, she said it was important to have the chance to say goodbye with a clear head.

“To have to say goodbye to my daughter in that .. way. I think I would have had so many regrets. Did I do that, did I say this?”

Cuddle cots in short supply

After leaving the hospital, the Kiers spoke with the counsellors at the hospital about the cuddle cots. The Royal Alexandra has two, which are used about three times a week.

Stephen was told that since the devices don’t actually prolong the life of the child, they are a low priority for already-strained hospital budgets. Most medical centres that use them have to rely on fundraising efforts -- usually spearheaded by families that have used them.

He said that convinced the couple to raise money to pay for cuddle cots for more Edmonton hospitals.

“We’d like to raise enough to have at least a cuddle cot in every hospital.”

The devices cost about $3,000 dollars each. The Kiers say they’d also like to raise enough money for similar equipment used for children who have died of illness or injury.

Since starting the campaign, Jenelle said she has been contacted by other families whose children have died during childbirth. She’s been shocked by the number of people who have suffered the same loss as her family and said it is an issue that many people don’t talk about.

“It’s heartbreaking that these women go through such a heart-wrenching time in their lives completely alone,” she said.

“[I’m] hearing about people who .. went into the hospital, their water broke, they’re about to go into labour (and) they came home with an empty car seat.”

Donations to help pay for the cuddle cots can be made at leragrace.com or by contacting the Stollery Children's Hospital Foundation.