In Sage’s name
Triton mother raising money for cuddle cot in late daughter’s memory
Kelsey Vincent wishes she had more time with her daughter.
The 22-year-old from Triton and her husband, Marcus, had just finished painting what would be the nursery — pink and grey — when Kelsey had to be rushed to the hospital with pains in her stomach.
In the early hours of Nov. 2, 2019, Vincent gave birth to her daughter, Sage. She was stillborn and the couple got just 10 hours with their daughter before her body was taken away.
“It was very unexpected. I think if I had been prepared for it, it would’ve been a lot easier to deal with, but it was just so sudden,” she said. “One day everything was fine and the next she was gone.”
Vincent credits Marcus with helping her through the dark weeks and months that followed the death of their daughter. They took it day by day until the point when Vincent told herself that Sage wouldn’t want them to prolong their grief.
In January, the couple decided to honour their daughter by raising money to help the South and Central Health
Foundation with the purchase of a cuddle cot.
It is a device designed to give grieving parents more time by keeping the baby cool and maintaining the baby’s appearance longer.
To put it simply, it gives the parents of stillbirths more time with the child.
In just a couple of months and despite the COVID-19 pandemic, Vincent raised $4,800 to purchase the cuddle cot.
“After I lost my daughter, a bunch of people actually reached out about losing babies, and a lot of them said they didn’t get time with their children, and I didn’t get a lot of time, either,” said Vincent. “I felt it was necessary to get one because of how common it is in our area.”
According to Statistics Canada, there were 31 stillbirths in Newfoundland and Labrador in 2018.
The device will be in the Women’s and Children Health Unit at the Central Newfoundland Regional Health Centre in Grand Fallswindsor, and it will be just the second such device in central Newfoundland.
A cuddle cot was recently delivered to the James Patton Memorial Hospital in Gander.
The South and Central Health Foundation began working with Vincent early on in her fundraising efforts.
They helped with tickets for the prize draw, which concludes Friday, and are looking forward to being able to order the cuddle cot.
“It is needed because we haven’t had it here before,” said South and Central Health Foundation executive director Wendy Houlihan.
The cuddle cot will allow families to have precious time with their stillborn infant and help them grieve.
That is what makes the delivery of the cot important.
“If you can give families that closure, it is worth it,” said Houlihan. “It is heartwarming to see (someone fundraising for it).”
While working to ensure her experiences with Sage will be a thing of the past, Vincent and her husband are expecting again.
Doctors are being careful, however, and Vincent is in constant contact with them about this pregnancy.
“I think getting pregnant again actually helped in the empty-arms department,” said Vincent. “Not having a child, and now there is a chance that there could be one.”