Campaign Update

A huge and heartfelt thank you to all 190 donors that have helped us reach (and exceed!) our fundraising goal including generous donations from Hazelwood Construction Services, Chinook Scaffold Systems Ltd. and the Tom Harris Community Foundation!

We are overwhelmed with gratitude as we sit down to write this post. We want to extend a sincere thank you to each and every one of you who generously donated to Briar's CuddleCot fundraiser. Your support has truly touched our hearts, helped us honour our girl and will make a difference in the lives of future loss families.

With your contributions, we have been able to provide CuddleCots to four hospitals across central Vancouver Island. These CuddleCots will allow parents to spend precious moments with their little ones and create lasting memories.

Your kindness and compassion are nothing short of remarkable. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for being part of Briar's incredible legacy. Your contributions will have a tremendous impact, bringing comfort, and a sense of peace to families who are going through the worst time of their lives.

With deep gratitude,

Cameron, Erin & Briar 💜🦋

Our Story....

We are Erin and Cameron and in the fall of 2022 we were excitedly expecting our first child. We were so incredibly happy to be new parents. On the morning of October 20th, 2022 we were told the worst words that any expecting parent should never have to hear: “I’m sorry your baby has no heartbeat”. A heartbeat that we had just heard 12 hours ago before we went to bed.

Two and a half weeks before this, Erin had very mild symptoms of itchy hands and feet. After mentioning this to our medical team, she had some bloodwork done and was diagnosed with Intrahepatic Cholestasis of Pregnancy (ICP). ICP is a family of liver disorders that occur only during pregnancy and are characterized by elevated bile acids in the patient’s blood. More information about this disease can be found here: https://icpcare.org/. We encourage everyone to learn more about this little known disease and to spread awareness.

Based on Erin’s bile acid levels, she was just barely over the level that is used to diagnose the disease. As such, she was being monitored more closely and having more tests done and the recommendation was to induce at 38-39 weeks. We had planned to induce at 38 weeks if there was any risk to our baby… October 20th was 37 weeks and 4 days.

Erin was induced that day and was expected to go into labour the following day. However, an hour after induction, Erin was having contractions one minute apart. After 10 hours, our beautiful daughter Briar Mica von Poser was born still.

We had prepared for 8 months to have a child and we were so ready. However, we were enormously unprepared for this outcome. We were in survival mode, and could not make the simplest of decisions, with so many choices that a new parent shouldn’t have to deal with. It was daunting to have to choose between cremation or burial, whether we wanted photos taken and if we wanted an autopsy when all we wanted was to rewind time and save Briar. The hospital staff and maternity ward nurses were unbelievably amazing at helping us through these difficult decisions. We were able to hold our beautiful girl, but ultimately she had to be transported to and from the hospital morgue to keep her body cool, instead of being able to stay in the room with us.

We had no idea what was expected, what we should do, if we should see her more and we didn’t want to be a burden on the nurses who were so kind and sympathetic to us. We can easily say now our biggest regret is not spending more time with Briar while we were at the hospital.

After our experience we have since learned some hospitals in larger urban areas have a specialty bassinet, known as a Cuddle Cot, which allows the baby to stay with their parents in the same room for as long as they want. Unfortunately many of the smaller hospitals on Vancouver Island do not have these Cuddle Cots. We have set up this fundraiser with the goal of providing a cuddle cot for each of the hospitals on Vancouver Island that need one but do not have one currently. We hope that this equipment will make it slightly less hard for future parents who are having the worst days of their lives, to give them the gift of more time.

With Gratitude,

Erin, Cameron & Briar

Briar's Gift

Erin and Cameron, parents of Briar, bravely share their story with friends and family and have raised enough funds within 3 days to purchase a Cuddle Cot for the Nanaimo Regional General Hospital. They are now committed to ensuring that other families across Vancouver Island take comfort while experiencing a devestating tragedy with a Cuddle Cot in their local hospital.

We invite you to join them by making a donation towards purchasing a Cuddle Cot for within the hospital of your choice. Your donation will give families the gift more time and to create memories with their child.

Donating is easy - simply click on the "Donate Now" button for the Hospital of your choice and make your donation. If you would like to make a custom donation please click the Custom Donation option.

Every donation counts, no matter how big or small. Your generosity will make a difference in the lives of grieving families across Vancouver Island. All gifts will receive a charitable tax receipt

Thank you for considering this important cause. Together, we can keep Briar's legacy alive.

Sincerely,

The Nanaimo & District Hospital Foundation