The secret code that alerts midwives to very special ‘rainbow babies’
“The hand-made hat will definitely be a keepsake for the memory boxes.”
It was a compliment that sparked a creative outburst and a message of hope.
Raisa Scott-Wilson and Daniel Wilson suffered a heartbreaking loss last Spring when their first child, a little girl called Samara, was stillborn.
They were referred to the maternity bereavement team at the Royal Albert Edward Infirmary.
And when Raisa fell pregnant again a few months later, the team were in close contact as the couple, from Platt Bridge, were understandably anxious about the pregnancy.
It was during a routine scan at the Rainbow Clinic that bereavement midwife Sam Barnsley noticed a scarf Raisa was wearing. And she quickly concocted a plan with Raisa that would help countless families.
“At one of Raisa’s antenatal appointments, she was wearing a gorgeous, coloured crochet scarf and I complimented her on it,” says Sam. “It was a beautiful scarf that I noticed straight away, and Raisa told me that her mum crocheted it for her.”
Raisa asked her mum, Hazel, if she would crochet a collection of rainbow hats for rainbow babies born at Wigan. A rainbow baby is a child born to a family that has previously experienced a late foetal loss, stillbirth or neonatal death.
Hazel got to work and has so far knitted 20 little rainbow hats for newborns.
When her grandson Gabriel Isaiah Scott-Wilson was born on March 13, he was the first to wear a rainbow hat.
Now families using Wrightington, Wigan and Leigh Teaching Hospitals maternity ward will be gifted the hats for their rainbow babies.
This small act of kindness will let staff know that a family has given birth to a baby after a previous loss. It means they can offer extra support if needed.
The hats can also be an indication to be extra sensitive to those visiting who don’t know about the history.
“We provide very personal, individualised care within our Rainbow Clinic with a consultant lead and the bereavement team,” says Sam. “This can sometimes come as a comfort to families who have experienced a late foetal loss, stillbirth or Neonatal death.
“Our staff will know that the mother will be giving birth to a rainbow baby throughout the pregnancy and on admission as there will be a sticker in their clinical notes. However the hand-made hat is that little bit more special and will definitely be a keepsake for the memory boxes.”
The hats come in all different sizes, including for premature babies, and each one takes roughly an hour to make.
Finlay Hunt and Jordan Bamford are the second set of parents to benefit from the scheme with their rainbow baby girl, Elora Juliette, born on Saturday March 29. Elora is the first baby girl to wear the rainbow hat at the hospital.