Parents of stillborn babies will now have time to bond with them following the donation of a special cot to the hospital that preserves the bodies, which means they are no longer rushed off to the morgue.

The cot, which looks like a normal Moses’ basket, is the first of its kind in the Obstetrics and Gynaecology Ward at Mater Dei Hospital, which sees an average of one stillborn birth every two weeks.

The device, a kind of refrigerated baby bed, donated by voluntary organisation Agora Malta, gives distressed parents uninterrupted time to say their final goodbyes and precious extra days with their child before having to leave hospital alone.

The first cot of its kind at Mater Dei Hospital, donated by Agora Malta. From left: Sandra Chetcuti, Elaine Gatt and Marie Chetcuti.

It uses a cooling system that is designed to fit under the small cot, keeping the baby’s body cold and preserving it for up to three days, meaning parents can decide to see the child in their own time.

The midwife warms the body up in a blanket before handing it to them.

Mothers may not be ready to see their deceased baby immediately after birth, both for physical and psychological reasons, said Agora Malta president Marie Chetcuti.

Also known as a Cuddle Cot, it is considered an invaluable support resource, enabling families, including siblings who can now meet, to shower them with love, hold them, take pictures and create special memories to cherish forever.

Everyone grieves in different ways and some parents need more time to come to terms with their situation, said gynaecologist Max Brincat.

He had suggested the cot, based on his first-hand experience of its benefits working at London’s St Thomas’ Hospital, when Agora Malta offered to donate more clothes that are normally collected by the ward for newborn babies who do not have any.

Until now, parents would not have had that much time with the baby in the delivery suite as it would have to be whisked off to the mortuary before the body starts to deteriorate.

Depending on the time of year, it could go within hours, Brincat said, adding that it is then brought back. But the distance between the morgue and the ward means logistics and time are required to organise this, so it is not as readily available.

“This means a lot to the mother and helps with the grieving process,” Brincat said.

A stillbirth is when a baby dies in utero after 24 weeks, he explained, but the cot could also be used for babies who die after birth.

Locally, it is likely to be used within the day of birth as, culturally, extending for three days could be considered morbid.

The voluntary organisation, composed of about 30 women, who fundraise between them for a yearly project, said the subject touched many of them and they proceeded on the advice of Brincat to bring over the €2,500 device, which is “aesthetically softer”.

It was presented to the ward last week and the next step is to dress it up with a 100 per cent cotton frill.

‘Not in a mortuary’

Eighteen years ago, Janine* gave birth via a traumatic emergency C-section to a baby boy, who passed away three hours later.

She never got to hold – or even see – him, preferring to leave his image to her imagination than visit him in a mortuary.

“I had never been in a hospital – let alone a morgue,” she says, declining the offer to go and see her son after she was told she had to go there.

Today mother to a 16-year-old girl, she was knocked out after the operation and took a while to come to after her anaesthetic. Her son was already gone by the time she did.

And she was in no position to hold and bond with the extremely pre-term baby, who had stopped growing some weeks back but for whom she still had hope.

“Initially, I just could not see him, but I was eventually talked into it by counsellors and the Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (Sands) – only to change my mind again and refuse when they started preparing me… to go to the morgue!”

Things have changed since Janine gave birth at St Luke’s Hospital. She acknowledges that the new cot would probably help mothers, though it does not diminish the grief, she says.

Two days had passed when she finally accepted to see her son, but today, it would not have had to be in such off-putting and morbid circumstances – and it may have happened.

*Names have been changed