Couple Donates CuddleCots Device To Hospital After Pregnancy Tragedy

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (CBS4) - Nick and Caley Young were excited to become new parents.

"Caley had a textbook pregnancy with our daughter Gwen," said Nick.

But when they went in for their 40 week appointment, the couple explained, the doctor couldn't find a heartbeat.

"(They) checked again with another Doppler, checked with the ultrasound and I could see right away that there was no heartbeat," said Caley. "It was completely devastating, I can't even describe the feeling."

In just a matter of hours baby Gwen emerged from the womb, stillborn.

"There's that sorrow, I know she's gone, but it's also that joy, I'm holding my first child," said Caley. "It's that hello and goodbye in the same breath, you know it's very painful, but at the same time there's a lot of joy there as well."

In the process of saying goodbye, the baby had to repeatedly be removed from the room and taken to the morgue in order to slow the decomposition process, which is accelerated in infants.

"What I remember about that is that they would bring her back and she would be cold and that was just devastating because a baby is not supposed to be cold like that," she said.

From a support group, Caley learned about CuddleCots. The device keeps the body cool so parents in similar circumstances don't have to be interrupted in the midst of their goodbye.

"You could see her, you could stay with her, you can make those memories just like you would with any other baby," she said. "That separation didn't have to happen and that healing process could get started."

Just one month after giving birth to a healthy baby boy, the Youngs have donated a CuddleCot to Swedish Medical Center hoping to help others heal in Gwen's memory.

"I'm very happy about that, I very happy that Gwen's legacy is going to live on."

To learn more about the nonprofit helping bring CuddleCots to hospitals, you can visit www.ashliesembrace.org.