Four years ago our lives changed forever, we became bereaved parents. We joined that group of nearly 4,000 families in 2013(and every other year) who lost a baby to stillbirth, our beautiful little Sarah. Those first days are a black abyss of pain, denial and struggling to grasp any sense of reality while simultaneously desperately trying to change it, refuse to acknowledge or accept it. 

The team at BGH saved not only my life, but they held the fragile pieces of our broken hearts in their own and we could not have had better care anywhere. The bereavement suite needs to be a place that is fit for purpose. A place parents can come face to face with their worst nightmare and be supported by the staff. To accommodate family members, quite and peaceful place parents can have a few precious hours or even days with their baby before parting with them for life.

Please help me in joining other parents in our area on this journey to raise funds to make the Eildon Suite at Borders General Hospital as loving and comforting a space as is possible.

SiMBA, Simpson's Memory Box Appeal, was founded in 2005 by Executive Director Sara Fitzsimmons who worked at the Edinburgh Royal Infirmary as a midwife, and later became a registered charity in 2008. Sara felt that families whose baby had died were not given enough; a brown paper envelope with polaroid photos, hand and footprints and a birth acknowledgement certificate. Sara, along with friends, fundraised to buy Memory Boxes for Simpsons but other hospitals got in contact.12 years later, SiMBA now supply hospitals across the UK.