A Wasilla family donated to South Peninsula Hospital’s birthing center a medical device that will help families grieve the loss of a stillborn child. Jennifer and Michael Redding, a Wasilla family with many generational ties to Homer, donated the device, called a CuddleCot, last Saturday.
A CuddleCot is a medical device with a cooling pad for a stillborn baby that allows the baby to stay in the room with family for as long as possible instead of being transported to a morgue.
Last April, the Redding family delivered a stillborn baby girl, Valerie, at Matanuska Susitna Regional Medical Center. The hospital did not have a preservation device.
Part of the family’s healing journey is a gofundme account (https://www.gofundme.com/f/ColdCotsforValerie) that provides an opportunity for the family to donate devices to Alaska hospitals that do not already have one available. The first CuddleCot the Redding family purchased went to the Mat-su hospital and the second was delivered to Homer.
The website account provides an introduction for what the family offer: “We are a mother, father and big brother that are surviving the life-altering pain of losing our daughter/sister twice in one day. We are hopeful to turn our sorrow into a solution in hopes that it will make the road, a road I wish for no other human, a little less painful to travel should they be called to walk it.”
The gofundme account has received enough funding to purchase a third device and Jennifer Redding is reaching out to hospitals across the state that do not already have these available. Alaska Regional Hospital in Anchorage is on her list as a recipient but the hospital has not confirmed the donation yet and she’s looking elsewhere. “As we continue to raise money, my goal is to donate these to medical facilities across the state of Alaska that don’t already have them. Juneau is on my list, but really anywhere in Alaska,” Redding said.
SPH Public Information Officer Derotha Ferraro expressed gratitude from the South Peninsula Hospital to the Redding family for their donation.
“We are honored to receive this gift and it comes at a perfect time as the South Peninsula Hospital is working to enhance the bereavement program in our birthing center,” Ferraro said.
