Airdrie & Coatbridge Advertiser
Memories live on
Raising cash for cuddle cots in memory of their girls
A grieving Coatbridge mum has described losing her twin girls during early labour as “absolutely crushing”.
Lauren Napier, 26, had been preparing to welcome her babies in October 2021 with her husband Ian, 32, when she began to experience sudden back pain in early June.
She told the Advertiser how she went into labour just a few days later at 21 weeks pregnant, with both babies tragically passing away.
Having enjoyed the “perfect pregnancy,” the mum-to-be wasn’t alarmed at her discomfort at first, but then the pain began to worsen and moved to her stomach.
After a check over in hospital, Lauren and her babies were given the all-clear to go home – but the pain soon became “unbearable”.
Lauren said: “I started to get a slight back pain, but it felt like muscle pain so I didn’t think anything of it – but within a few days I started to get pain in the right side of my stomach.
“I decided to call the hospital for some advice. Both myself and the babies were checked at the hospital and all was fine so I was sent home with some painkillers.
“But the pain got increasingly worse and was eventually unbearable. I felt like I was having contractions.
“I went back into the hospital again that day. I was then examined by a doctor who confirmed my waters hadn’t broken and everything was still in place.
“I had a scan to check the babies and everything was fine, but that one twin’s head was engaged.
“I was told this was sometimes normal and she can move back out of that position and that the contractions I was having were uterus contractions that can be caused by an irritation.”
Lauren and husband Ian headed home again, but Lauren’s contractions continued to worsen through the night before her waters suddenly broke in the morning of June 15.
She was immediately rushed to Wishaw General where medics delivered the devastating news that her labour was too far gone and her premature babies would not survive.
Recalling her tragic ordeal, Lauren said: “By the time I got to hospital I was already five centimetres dilated, which meant they couldn’t stop the labour.
“We were then told by the doctor that the babies were too early and even if they were born alive, there would be no chance of survival.
“This news was absolutely crushing. I had to go through a full natural labour and deliver both of my girls knowing I would not be taking them home with me.”
The couple’s first daughter, Billie, was delivered stillborn at 3.34pm, weighing just 370 grams. She was followed by her sister Malea at 4.43pm, who was alive, but weighed a tiny 400 grams and tragically passed away a few hours later.
Lauren, who has a heart condition and had suffered a blood clot in 2018, had to take blood-thinning injections every day since she was three weeks pregnant due to her health conditions.
But despite this, she explains her pregnancy had been “perfect” before the pains developed.
She said: “It felt the best I have ever felt in my life. It really was the perfect pregnancy, very little sickness and some headaches up to around 12 weeks, then it all went away.
“Everyone even complimented how well I looked.”
In the wake of their heartbreak, the brave couple have chosen to share their story in a bid to raise awareness and collect funds after being given precious time to spend with their twin daughters in a cuddle cot.
NHS Scotland use cuddle cots for stillborn babies and late miscarriages, which work to keep babies who have passed away cool for longer, slowing the decomposition process.
For Lauren and Ian, the time the cuddle cot gave them with their daughters provided huge comfort.
Lauren told us: “The hospital offered us as much time as we needed with the girls.
“We stayed with them for two days and even had the option to take them home in the cot but we just felt that this would have been even harder when it would be time for them to be collected by the private ambulance.
“The cuddle cot gave us an experience we never even knew was possible. We were able to cuddle our babies, sing to them and get them ready for their final journey.”
Events manager Lauren and warehouse operative Ian now want to raise funds to donate a cuddle cot to Wishaw General in their daughters’ memory.
Lauren said: “I know how much comfort it brought to us and I want other people to feel the same.”
Lauren and Ian, who have praised the “amazing” midwives and doctors at the hospital, also described the painful moment they had to return home from the labour ward without their babies.
She said: “Leaving the hospital was so hard, having to walk through the labour ward with two memory boxes instead of our babies was killing us, but we knew we had spent precious time with our girls and some people may not have had that.
“We appreciate everything the hospital has done for us during and after our situation and we want to do anything we can to help.”
Maureen Dobbin, NHS Lanarkshire service manager, said: “These cots help grieving parents, who have had to endure a horrendous journey, the time they need with their baby.
“The cots can be used in hospital and they can also allow a family to take their baby home for a while should this be their wish.
“We are grateful to anyone who fundraises on our behalf, in particular, families who have been through such an experience and we would like to thank Lauren for thinking of others whilst still grieving for her loss.”