Madeline’s Mission donation to hospitals makes loss of a child easier

Staff at St. Mary’s Hospital, in Lewiston, Madeline’s Mission volunteers and the hospital’s new Cuddle Cot. (Madeline’s Mission Facebook photo)

BATH — Madeline’s Mission has donated three Cuddle Cots to hospitals in Waterville, Damariscott and Lewiston. Cuddle Cots are special bassinets that help parents cope with the loss of a child.
The recent gifts bring the amount of Cuddle Cots donated to Maine hospitals to five.
Launched at the beginning of 2019, Madeline’s Mission seeks to provide a path toward wellness, healing and hope for families surviving child loss. In June 2019, Madeline’s Mission donated a Cuddle Cot to Midcoast Hospital in Brunswick, and in September 2019, donated its second Cuddle Cot to MaineGeneral in Augusta. This year, Cuddle Cots were donated to Lincoln Health (Miles) in Damariscotta, St. Mary’s in Lewiston and Inland Hospital in Waterville. All cots were delivered curbside at each hospital by Madeline’s Mission volunteers wearing masks.

A new Cuddle Cot is delivered to Inland Hospital in Waterville, Courtney Cook, RN, director of Birthing at Inland Hospital with Amie Marzen, president of Madeline’s Mission and mother of the nonprofit’s namesake, Madeline, with two of her children. (Inland Hospital photo)
“We are beyond honored to give these gifts to our area hospitals,” said Amie Marzen, president of Madeline’s Mission and mother of the nonprofit’s namesake, Madeline. Madeline died in 2017 at the age of 4 after an aggressive two-month battle against a brain tumor. “Each donation of these Cuddle Cots is always a bit bittersweet. We always tell the nurses and hospital staff accepting it that we hope they never have to use it, but unfortunately we know that one day they will. Madeline’s Mission helps to support those families is honored to be able to care for these families, starting from those first moments.”
A Cuddle Cot is a specialized crib that resembles a bassinet or “Moses basket,” but has a cooled mattress pad that allows families to spend more time with their infant after a loss. With the cooling mattress, families can spend priceless extra hours and days together in their hospital room. Allowing time for more pictures, bonding and saying goodbye. When the time is already cut so short with the loss of an infant who had not yet gotten a chance to experience the world, the extra time together as a family is truly priceless. Without the availability of a Cuddle Cot, families are forced to have a quicker goodbye because of to body deterioration. Studies have shown that the extra time together is beneficial for the mental health of the parents and surviving loved ones. It provides a chance for grandparents, brothers and sisters to meet the new baby, and truly have a moment to say hello before saying goodbye.
“It’s hard to find the right words to express what having a Cuddle Cot would have meant to us after Michael was delivered,” said Kendray Rodriguez, whose son Michael was stillborn. “We were lucky, in that we were allowed to spend a few hours with him after delivery. We took turns holding him, took a few pictures of the three of us together. I even got to take a nap with him in my arms. And then they took him away. To the morgue. So his body wouldn’t deteriorate. It was like losing him all over again. Losing a child to stillbirth takes so many things away from you, but the cruelest of those things is time.We had so little time with him. I would give my right arm for more time with Michael. Cuddle Cots give families that time, and while time won’t bring a child back, it does give their family the chance to bond, grieve, and just be with their child. That time has been shown — both anecdotally and in research — to be hugely important in the mental health and wellbeing of bereaved parents.”
Madeline Marzen
Cuddle cots cost $3,000 each. Fundraising for the Cuddle Cot is held online and through social media, bringing area parents together. Many have donated in memory of babies or young children gone too soon, including babies Matthew, Benjamin, Palmer, Quinn, Michael, Carter, Julian and Ella, and the organization’s namesake, Madeline.
Madeline’s Mission believes that no one should have to go through the grief journey alone. The organizatoin strives to provide compassionate, individualized services and connection to local resources enabling people to get the healing supports that they may desire following a loss. No matter in what way a child has been lost or is anticipated to be lost, Madeline’s Mission stands alongside to support families through that process from the time they identify the need; regardless of the circumstances of the loss. Madeline’s Mission is a registered 501(c)3 nonprofit.
“It’s a difficult topic to consider, in that no one wants to talk about surviving the unthinkable loss of a child,” said Marzen. “However whether it is discussed or not, child loss does happen — and there needs to be supports in place to lift families during their darkest hours, especially after life returns to an unsettling ‘new normal.’ We want to be able to provide some hope and comfort to these families and let them know they’re not alone — and are always loved.”
The organization plans to continue to fundraise for additional Cuddle Cots for area hospitals that do not have them available. For more invormation, visit madelinemission.org.