Gadsden Regional Medical Center providing mothers time to grieve

GADSDEN, Ala. (WBRC) - A heartbreaking reality for some parents - in 2022, more than 200 babies were delivered stillborn in Alabama.

Dozens of those cases happened in East Alabama, according to the Alabama Department of Public Health.

Gadsden Regional Medical Center is providing a better way for those parents to say goodbye with the Cuddlecot System. Mothers who deliver stillborn babies will now be able to spend as much time needed with their baby thanks to the system donated from a family who experienced the loss themselves.

Chief Nursing Officer Traci Howard with Gadsden Regional says it’s important for a mother to go through a grieving process. Howard says this Cuddlecot System will allow stillborn babies to maintain the correct temperature so the death and dying process that takes place naturally, will preserve the infant and allow the mother to spend as much time as she needs. Before this, Howard says they couldn’t set an appropriate temperature with their previous device.

“Typically, we see most moms by the second or third day, they have gone through enough of the process that they’re ready to face that final separation. They want an eternity of time, but truly by about the second or third day, we notice that separation has come to a point where they’re ready to let go,” said Howard.

Ashlie’s Embrace is providing these units to medical facilities to help support grieving families.

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