NEW BERN, N.C. (WNCT) – A nonprofit in Eastern North Carolina hopes to support parents who have experienced the loss of a child before birth.
One in every 160 pregnancies will result in a stillbirth and one in four will result in a miscarriage. Boots and Blooms Foundation hopes to spread awareness about pregnancy loss and help those going through such a tragedy.
“Not only do you experience the loss of your pregnancy, the loss of your baby, but you lose everything. You lose your first day of school, you lose raising them, you lose their wedding, you lose everything, a whole lifetime of memories that you were supposed to have,” said co-founder Nicole Lee.
Nicole and her husband Wayne began the organization after experiencing their own loss.
“Our daughter Lilly was stillborn in 2018, and then tragedy struck a second time for us and we lost our little boy Andy last February,” said Nicole.
They were able to make molds of Lilly’s hands and feet, as well as take her thumbprint, but not every hospital has those amenities.
“We wanted to make sure that other families who have to deal with this were able to have something to go home with,” she said. “You really can’t explain having a baby and then going home empty-handed. So it’s nice to have those tangible items to be able to see and to hold.”
Boots and Blooms Foundation raises money to provide these kits and other items, like blankets and stuffed animals to area hospitals, directly into the hands of parents who need them. They’ve donated to ECU Health Medical Center, CarolinaEast Medical Center, Carteret Healthcare and Onslow Memorial Hospital.
“We’ve been able to meet and speak with other families who have experienced the same thing,” said Nicole. “It’s a group you never want to be a part of, someone who loses a child. It’s never anything that you ever want to be a part of. But it’s the strongest people we’ve ever met.”
They have big goals for the future, such as creating bereavement rooms at each hospital in ENC.
“That way, you may not be able to bring your baby home, but you can at least make some memories in a home environment, so that’s what we ideally would like to do,” she said.
As a way to raise money, 2023 was the first Boots and Blooms Foundation 5K, representing over 75 babies’ lives. The organization plans to continue this run each year in October, for Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month.
People can donate to the 501-C3 on the 5K website. If interested, click here. People can also donate on Venmo @Bootsandbloomsfoundation.
CarolinaEast Medical Center thanks the nonprofit as they received one of their recent donations, in honor of what would have been Andy’s first birthday this past weekend.
Claire Curry
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