Story
In June 2016, I went into spontaneous premature labour and gave birth to our beautiful twins, at 25 weeks and 1 day gestation. They were born almost 4 months early. Grace weighed 1lb 7oz and Harry, 1lb 12oz. Our Son, Harry, devastatingly died at 11 days old. We have chosen to set up Harry's Butterfly Fund, through The Skye High Foundation.
The Skye High Foundation was set up in 2016, in memory of Skye Cann, after Millie and Lewis suffered the tragic loss of their twin daughter Skye, at 30 weeks due to anencephaly. They created the purple butterfly cot card, which can be to be placed into a cot or incubator of a surviving baby or babies, part of a multiple birth, especially for during their long hospital stay. The card allows families to write the name of their baby they are remembering, (along with posters on the hospital unit), explaining what the purple butterfly symbolises. It allows healthcare professionals and other parents to understand what has happened to families in neonatal units to avoid unnecessary comments and questions for those families who have experienced the death of a baby, when emotions are particularly high.
We placed our purple butterfly cot card on Graces incubator during her 105 day stay in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and the purple butterfly symbol remains a huge part of our lives. The card represented Harry, making others aware that our surviving Daughter, is a twin.
I was honoured to become a trustee for The Skye High Foundation, continuing Harrys legacy. I remain very passionate about supporting other families through this sadness and aim to raise awareness and money for the charity. I want to ensure other suffering families, continue to be supported in NICU's, for them to receive a bereavement support family pack and for healthcare professional's to complete the online bereavement course we created, for 'the loss of a baby in multiple pregnancy: supporting grieving families'.