Stacey Jeffery, of Moruya, had just 16 hours with her son, Jasper Dennis Jeffery, after he was stillborn at 21 weeks.

She is raising money to buy a Cuddle Cot, a cooling system designed to fit within a cot, that would allow families to have more time with their stillborn babies.

Ms Jeffery, who is also a midwife at Moruya District Hospital, said Jasper was a much-

wanted, much-anticipated baby and she did everything to save the pregnancy, but the odds were against them.

“He was born at 6.18pm, so I was able to have him overnight,” Ms Jeffery said.

“Natural processes take place and they do need to go and spend time in the morgue, so they don’t deteriorate.

“I couldn’t bear the thought of him going to the hospital mortuary, so I left the hospital far sooner than I was ready to and it is something I will always regret.”

Ms Jeffery said the short time she spent with Jasper meant the world to her.

“It was the only time I was ever going to get with him,” she said.

“The 16 hours I had with him was nowhere near enough.

“I feel like my time was cut short, whereas with a Cuddle Cot, they can just go into the cot and they don’t have to go to the morgue.

“If I had the option and the availability of a Cuddle Cot, I would have stayed in hospital longer and spent more time.”

According to the Stillbirth Foundation Australia, one in every 135 babies in Australia are stillborn, meaning there are more than 2000 stillbirths each year.

Ms Jeffery said that though Moruya District Hospital’s maternity department was small – delivering about 300 to 350 babies a year – a Cuddle Cot could make the world of difference to parents of stillborn babies.

“Even if it is only four or five women a year, that’s four or five women a year that are benefiting from having more time,” she said.

 “(It gives) families the ability to stay as long as they want, it also (allows) other family time to travel to meet the baby and spend time.

“All of this can be done without the need for the baby to be taken away from their parents because they can stay in their cot in the room.

“I know I’m not the only woman and I’m not the only family that has lost a baby in the area and I know that there will be women after me and they can benefit from that precious time.”

Ms Jeffery posted her online fundraising page through Pregnancy Loss Australia on several Face-book pages and raised more than $1500 of the $5500 in one week.

“Within the first few hours of posting it I got an anonymous $500 donation, that just blew me away,” she said.

She hopes to officially hand over the Cuddle Cot on the first anniversary of Jasper’s birth, September 26.

Donations can be made at http://placuddlecot.gofundraise.com.au/page/jasperdennis.