A Westhead mum who could spend time with her stillborn baby after staff at Southport Hospital sourced a special cuddle cot for her has raised the money to provide the hospital with its own cuddle cot so other grieving parents can spend precious time with their babies.

Laura Duran-Smith was seven months pregnant when she was taken to the hospital last January for lifesaving surgery to remove most of her small bowel; tragically, as a consequence of the procedure, her baby girl, Isabella Jayne, was stillborn.

However, although she was unconscious and in intensive care for three days, Laura could still spend time with her baby after the hospital obtained a cuddle cot from another trust.

A cuddle cot has a cooling mattress that slows down the body’s deterioration and can be placed in a cot or a pram, enabling parents to stay with their babies for days or even weeks before their funeral, hugging them, dressing them and even taking them out for walks.

Following their own experience, 31-year-old Laura, and husband James, 35, set up the Bella Butterfly Foundation with the aim of purchasing cuddle cots for Southport Hospital and other NHS trusts; now, after raising £2,000, the couple, who have a five-year-old son Oscar, have presented the new cot to the hospital.

Laura said: “It has been hard, emotionally as well as physically due to the illness and everything else, but I feel proud because Southport Hospital were a big part of my journey from the beginning.

"The surgeon there saved my life and is the reason that I am here for my little boy.

“To be able to give something back to the hospital feels rewarding and especially to do so in Isabella’s name. It feels like something positive has come out of such a tragic situation.”

Laura's now hoping to raise more money for cuddle cots for other NHS trusts and also to buy another piece of equipment for Salford Hospital, which doesn’t have a maternity ward but is where she was transferred to following her surgery at Southport.

A fundraising page for the couple’s appeal has been set up at www.gofundme.com/the-bella-butterfly-foundation.

Rev Martin Abrams, chaplain for Southport and Ormskirk hospitals, said: “We are incredibly grateful to Laura and James and although we hope the cuddle cot never has to be used, it’s good to know it is always there if needed for another family.”