Thanks for taking the time to visit our JustGiving page.

Scott and I were expecting a beautiful baby boy in August this year. Everything felt great, the appointments to begin with were all non-eventful, I felt great in myself, and as each day passed we became more excited for his arrival.

Little did we know that our boy's brain hadn't developed the way it was supposed to. After our 20 week scan, we had endless investigations, consultations and referrals. We remained hopeful that what they had spotted was just a small blip, maybe a bit of artefact, but despite his whole body growing just the way it was supposed to, his little brain just wasn't keeping up.

On 30th April at 15:45, George Scott Clipstone was born sleeping at 26 weeks and 2 days. He was so perfectly formed and looked so peaceful. It was by far the toughest day Scott and I have ever been through and one we hoped we would never have to endure, but the fantastic bereavement team at St Mary's hospital in Poole gave us something we didn't even realise was possible. They had a cold cot that would enable us to spend five days with George before he went to the funeral home.

It looks like a normal cot on the outside, but it has a refrigeration system within it that keeps baby cool, enabling bereaved parents like us to spend as much time with their baby that they need to before saying goodbye. Being able to be with our son and bond with him for those five days meant the world to us and it wouldn't have been possible without the cot.

When enquiring about it, we found out that St Mary's only had one cot for two bereavement suites. Unfortunately more often than anybody would want, both suites are in use at the same time meaning only one family would benefit from the cot. We knew right away that we wanted to fund a second cot for the hospital to give parents in the future a chance to spend that precious time with their babies the same way we did. 

The cots are entirely funded by donations to Abigails footsteps and are built to order. We wanted to give our friends and family an opportunity to donate so decided to set up this page. Once the money is raised, the cot will be built and a plaque bearing George's name will be placed on it before it is donated to St Mary's hospital. Despite spending the shortest time in this world, George will be helping countless bereaved parents like us to be with their little ones taken too soon. It is a legacy I am proud that he will have. Just like we will always remember the little baby's name on the cot George was placed in, we hope future parents will see George's plaque and remember him too.

Thank you so much from all three of us for any donation, however big or small you are happy to make.