Northern Montana Hospital receives CuddleCot donation

Northern Montana Health Care received a donation in an emotional ceremony Tuesday of a CuddleCot System from Ashlie's Embrace, presented by Meaghan and J.T. Tidwell, in memory of their late son Miller Michael Tidwell.

CuddleCots are devices designed to help families who've suffered stillbirths or infant loss to spend more time with their recently departed child, by circulating cold water through pads placed in a crib, Moses basket, pram or bed to prevent deterioration while they grieve.

The time these devices provide families helps ease the trauma of being separated from their newborn so soon.

Meaghan Tidwell said at the ceremony that the device allowed her and her family to spend more than two days with their newborn before having to say goodbye.

"We had 62 hours with Miller," Tidwell said. " ... It gave us a lot of time to hold our baby."

She said that, in October of last year, she was pregnant with Miller, who would have been her fifth living child, but one day she stopped feeling movement.

She said she had COVID-19 at the time and wasn't feeling that bad, but she went to the hospital to see if everything was all right, never really thinking she would receive the news she did, that her baby went to sleep and was not going to wake up.

Tidwell said the doctors decided that cesarean section was the safest option, and did extensive blood work to make sure the procedure would be safe.

In doing those tests, she said, it was found that she was much more sick than the doctors originally thought, finding that on top of COVID-19, she had disseminated intravascular coagulation, a rare but serious condition that causes abnormal blood clotting throughout the body's blood vessels.

She said had her son's movement not stopped, causing her to go to the hospital, the condition would have either caused a stroke, caused her to bleed out while giving birth or induced a seizure that would have left her with permanent brain damage.

Tidwell said her son's death may well have saved her life, calling him her "saving grace and her little hero."

After seven transfusions of blood and blood product, she said, she was able to deliver her son and the CuddleCot gave them much more time with their child than they otherwise would have, and now they work with Ashlie's Embrace to bring the technology to other hospitals and raise awareness about infant loss and stillbirths.

"I hope no one has to use this," she said, holding back tears.

Tidwell said her son's death also introduced her to a community of families like hers who have gone through the same thing.

"They are one of the strongest communities I've ever had the pleasure of getting to know," she said. "They are silent, but they are mighty."

During the presentation, Northern Montana Health Care Director of Labor and Delivery Kristin Donoven said the donation is incredibly significant, and she's thankful that Northern Montana Hospital was the first hospital in the state to be given a CuddleCot from Ashlie's Embrace.

"Being able to offer this service to our families will make a world of difference in how these unfortunate situations are handled," Donoven said in a press release. "It's important that families can take the time they need to process their grief. The CuddleCot will allow us to assist them through this in a respectful way."

"Losing a baby is likely one of the most difficult things a family will ever experience," Ashlie's Embrace Co-Founder Erin Maroon in the release. "Every hospital should have a CuddleCot as an option for parents to capture some of the only memories they'll ever have with that baby. We are honored to have partnered with the Tidwell family to make this special donation. Their sweet Miller is making a difference around the country."

Ashlie's Embrace was founded in 2016 by Erin and Anthony Maroon after the loss of their full-term daughter Ashlie, and provides cooling units to medical facilities across the U.S.