A bereaved mum has revealed how she was able to spend precious time with her baby thanks to technology developed by a company on the Isle of Sheppey.

Molly Hope has spoken in the third episode of a podcast series produced by Medway charity Abigail’s Footsteps to mark Baby Loss Awareness Week.

Her baby son Blake died just half an hour after being born at Medway Maritime Hospital in 2017.

Molly, her husband Mike, and their wider family were able to spend time making memories. She said: “It was a great comfort. It meant we didn’t feel like we had to rush out of the hospital and get away from what had happened.

“We got all of the quality time, although a short period of time.

“It gave us 48 hours of comfort. We could be mum and dad. I could sit and stare at my baby. I could sit and have a cuddle with him, bath him if I wanted to. It just gave us and the extended family the moments we’d envisaged for nine months.”

Co-founder of Abigail’s Footsteps, David Ward, was only able to spend a couple of hours with his daughter Abigail when she was stillborn in 2009.

After researching what services were provided to other families around the world, he bought Medway Maritime Hospital a cold cot from Germany. David went on to recruit Sheppey company Bond Group, which specialises in refrigeration, to design and build the Abi cold cot that is now supplied to hospitals across the country.

Marketing director, Phil Proudman, said: “I’ve listened to some of those stories, I’ve been to some of those seminars that David and the charity has put on and I’ve shed a fair few tears just listening to them.

“My neighbour went through this (baby loss) and it’s heartbreaking. As a company we’re very proud to support the charity, we love the charity. We are always being pushed to do more marking and shout about it a bit more but we do it because it’s an important service to people who use those cots.”

Abigail’s Footsteps also campaigns and fundraises for hospitals to have dedicated bereavement suites so parents can spend time with their baby away from busy maternity units.

Abigail’s Place at Medway Maritime Hospital was visited by the Duchess of Edinburgh after being officially opened by charity patron Lady Astor.

Kate Harris is head of midwifery at the hospital and speaks on the podcast about the importance of the suite and also the bereavement training provided to midwives.

She said: “We know from parents that we haven’t, and sadly we don’t, always continue to get it right. Everything that we say to parents, everything we do, the language we use and how we communicate is remembered by them.

“Those few hours, days, that they have with their baby are so important and we have to get it right during that short period of time and the training has been significantly beneficial in identifying gaps that were there previously.”

A Journey with Abigail’s Footsteps is an IM Listening production.