A mother and daughter have raised thousands to pay for specialist baby cuddling equipment in memory of their stillborn son.
Wyatt Emrys Maltby-Gills was delivered 20 weeks early to Chris Maltby-Gills (33) and Emily Maltby-Gills (31), on September 8, 2024.
Emily’s waters had broken two days before during a check up at the Pilgrim Hospital in Boston.
The pair, from Pinchbeck, were so grateful for the service of the specialist Pennysuite bereavement suite there that Emily decided to fundraise in memory of their son.
“I felt ‘lucky’ in a way as we were able to be placed in the bereavement suite away from the rest of the labour ward”, said Emily, who has also experienced three miscarriages. “The midwives were fantastic and supported us before Wyatt was born and afterwards too.
“We knew we would have to leave him at the hospital and not come home with our baby, which no parent should ever have to endure, but we didn’t feel rushed at all.
“We spent a total of four days at Pilgrim Hospital including two days with Wyatt due to the hospital being donated a ‘cold cot’ by another family, which allowed us to spend more time with him, let family members meet him and we were able to read a book to him from our memory box.”
The box, which included two teddy bears, a card for Wyatt’s hand and footprints, a tape measure used to record his measurements and pictures, was provided by the 4Louis charity.
It was set up by Kirsty Knight in memory of her child.
It also provides CuddleCots, similar to the ‘cold cot’ Emily and Chris experienced, which cools baby bodies and allow families to spend more time with them.
Emily’s mum Alexandra Gills (60) saw that 4Louis holds the Silent Steps appeal every October and encourages people to walk a mile a day that month and raise funds.
They both decided to give it a go and raised £2,332.50 enough to fund a CuddleCot for a hospital that doesn’t have one.
They chose Bedford Hospital and recently went along to hand over the CuddleCot.
“It was a struggle daily to get myself out of bed for the walks, but I was not only doing it for our little boy but also knowing we would be helping raise money for the charity,” said Emily, who works as a nail technician. “We were gobsmacked to raise as much as we did and feel incredibly lucky to have had so much support.
“The staff we met at Bedfordshire Hospitals NHS Trust were so welcoming and unbelievably appreciative of us presenting the CuddleCot to them.
“They asked about Wyatt and will put him into their memorial book, which is so special.
“Knowing we have been able to and are helping other families spend time with baby and also know they aren’t on their own in this, with a community of loss parents to support them and charities, especially 4Louis, in their darkest days is a form of comfort.
“Wyatt is in our hearts and minds no matter what we are doing and being able to have his legacy live on, with the CuddleCot being donated in his name helps a little and fundraising for 4Louis has given me and my mum a little bit of purpose.”
