Thank you for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

I would like to tell you our story, and why Phil and I are raising money for the Sands Charity.

Our much-loved baby girl Wren was born sleeping at 41 weeks, on 25th August 2019. She was perfect and so beautiful, we were devastated. Wren was 7lbs 14, I had a very healthy first pregnancy, and we sadly may never know what went wrong. I'd seen the midwife the day before, all was well, I had no symptoms, my labour was progressing... when they couldn't find her heartbeat, and the consultant held our hands as she told us the news, the pain was indescribable. 

If you can imagine for a moment how fragile you are as parents in the hospital at that moment, after that news, you need so much support. The bereavement midwives were amazing and I had fantastic care, but this is where Sands helped us so much. 

Thanks to Sands, we had a special bereavement suite at Exeter RD&E to go to. I didn't have to hear other mothers giving birth, or be alone, Phil was able to stay in the suite with me at night. The suite was decorated to be homely and not clinical, they had thought of everything to make us more comfortable. I was allowed to deliver my baby in that safe private space, and most importantly we had time afterwards with our beautiful Wren. The hospital had a cold cot which meant we had two days to hold her, kiss her, talk to her, be alone just the three of us, and ultimately, to say goodbye. The most painful part for me was leaving Wren at the hospital, and thanks to Sands we left not just with memories of her, but a memory box, photos, one of two soft toy elephants (the other stayed with Wren), casts and prints of her hands and feet, a lock of her hair. I can't tell you what those items mean when you go home, to the new pram by the door, the full nursery, the gifts that were waiting to be unwrapped... 

Sands gave us booklets for us and our families on how to cope, advice for arranging the funeral, and counselling services. Their online forum for mothers has helped me through the darkest days. Each week still brings new challenges for us, and the grief is sometimes very hard to bear. I know that there are still many hospitals without a bereavement suite or cold cots, and we would both like to raise money in Wren's name, to help Sands to change this. Donations will also help to fund important research, train midwives, and give help and support to bereaved parents. 

I am selling special giclee prints (bear image above) on my Etsy page here - with a donation from each print to Sands www.etsy.com/uk/shop/katiecleminson. We set up this page so we can share our story, and our progress towards our goal. We loved our girl so much, we would love to do some good in her name, we really hope you can help!

If you can, please click to donate. If you're not able to, please could you help us by sharing this page. 

Thank you so much,

Katie and Phil

ETSY link - www.etsy.com/uk/shop/katiecleminson

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving - they'll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they'll send your money directly to the charity. So it's the most efficient way to donate - saving time and cutting costs for the charity.