In honour of our forever baby boy Romeo Mackenzie Horn. We arrived at the South Lakes Birthing Centre at 6.30am on Easter Monday morning in labour just two days before Romeo’s due date. When we arrived at triage there was no trace of a heartbeat, and it was confirmed Romeo had died. A few hours later, Romeo was born, and entered the world in silence. Going through labour knowing there is no healthy outcome is probably one of the most mentally challenging things I will ever do in my life. You’re trying to process what has happened, whilst you’re in a late stages of labour knowing the baby you’re about to meet is no longer alive. 9 months of expectations and dreams of a lifetime, shattered in an instant. Walking into a home prepared for a baby, with no baby is something no one should ever have to face. Abi Cooling Cots allow grieving parents longer with their babies. Without one, Romeo would have had to go into the hospital mortuary within a couple of hours. Instead we had 10 days as a family, time we will forever cherish!

We are aiming to raise a minimum of £3,000 to provide the South Lakes Birthing Centre at Furness General Hospital a second Abi Cooling Cot. They have kindly accepted our offer of a donation, and they are ready to receive as soon as we reach our total. Once we reach the total amount needed for Furness General Hospital, we intend to raise money for the Cooperative Funeralcare in Kendal to provide them with an Abi Cooling Cot. This will be an amazing asset to them, and it will provide them with something few funeral homes have access to, prolonging the time families can spend with their babies all in memory of Romeo. This will massively benefit grieving parents in the immediate vicinity of the Kendal area.

The Abi Cooling Cot is a refrigerated unit that allows families to spend more time with their deceased baby than would otherwise be possible. The cooling cot helps parents to bond with their baby and aids the grieving process. The cooling cot is supplied by Abigail's Footsteps in partnership with The Bond Group . We have delivered cots to over 100 hospitals and hospices in the UK and Ireland so far. It is our mission to encourage all bereavement suites in hospitals to have at least two cooling cots.