A WIRRAL woman, whose little girl was stillborn, has launched a fundraising drive to help other parents in their hour of need.

Rachel Lomax, from Birkenhead, was rushed to hospital with a placental abruption in July and daughter Emelie was later stillborn.

However thanks to a special ‘cuddle cot’ at Arrowe Park Hospital, she and her husband James were able to spend vital time with their baby while they came to terms with the tragedy.

And now the couple are determined to raise the £2,000 needed to install a second cuddle cot at the hospital so more parents can benefit from the unique facility.

Rachel, from Birkenhead, said: “I was 32 weeks’ pregnant when we lost Emelie – the pregnancy had been absolutely fine with no complications and I don’t think I realised how serious the situation was until I was rushed through by doctors.

“As any parent who has been through this knows, it is an awful experience to have to go through but we were massively comforted by the cuddle cot. We were told we could spend as long as we wanted with our daughter to get to know what she looked like and our parents could also come to visit too.

“I don’t think we would have coped at all if that facility hadn’t been there. The cot keeps the temperature of the baby down so you can spend vital time with them and deal with what has happened.”

However due to the cots not being available on the NHS, Arrowe Park has just one and Rachel is keen to give the hospital another so that more parents can say goodbye to their little ones in this way.

She and James, 25, have launched ‘Emelie’s Gift’ in a bid to raise the cash and have planned a string of events to boost funds.

Rachel added: “I had no idea this cot even existed but I am so grateful we went to Arrowe Park where there is one as not every hospital is lucky enough.

“We spent eight hours with Emelie but when we asked the nurses what would happen if another couple were to suffer the same loss, they said we would either have to give up our space or they could not use it which is very sad.”

Jacqui Morgan, neonatal manager at Arrowe Park, praised Rachel’s efforts to help the neonatal unit.

She said: "Coming to terms with the loss of a baby is an incredibly difficult event.

"Giving parents and family the opportunity to spend immediate time with their baby helps in the grieving process for them.

"We would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to Rachel who is raising funds to help purchase this additional cot for our neonatal unit."

To find out more about Emelie’s Gift, visit the page on Facebook by searching for ‘Emelie’s Gift’.