Northampton mum pays tribute to five-week-old son by raising money for more chairs on neonatal ward

A Northampton mum who tragically lost her newborn baby at only five-weeks-old is trying to take a positive from a truly horrific situation by raising money to make other families’ time in hospital more comfortable.

Clara Allen, from Spratton, gave birth to her son Stanley at 30 weeks and one day on February 20, this year.

He was taken straight to the Gosset Ward and the nurses - who Clara describes as “so lovely” and “kind” - helped him get stronger and progress everyday.

The 32-year-old said: “When I was recovering, they even printed a picture of him for me because I could not see him yet.

“When I could see him, they let me be as much of a mum as I could be, as they obviously do a lot of the caring.”

On Mother’s Day, Clara also received a present, which she says she will now “treasure”.

Stanley went on to spend time on wards in Leicester and Kettering, however, he eventually ended up back at Northampton General Hospital. He was sent home as he was “doing really well”.

Clara added: “We’d rang the bell and he’d got a certificate to say ‘38 days behind me and the rest of my life to go’ so I thought we’d done it.”

Unfortunately, the family’s heartbreak wasn’t over, as less than two days after being allowed home, and at aged only five weeks and four days, Stanley passed away on March 30. A post-mortem has been conducted and the family is awaiting the results.

Now Clara, who also has three daughters, is attempting to make other families’ time on the Gosset Ward more comfortable by raising money to buy more chairs.

Clara says there are only a handful of big, reclining chairs on the ward. If none of the chairs are available, parents are offered what Clara described as like waiting room chairs. In Clara’s opinion, the reclining chairs are needed, as babies on the ward are often linked up to many tubes and the ‘waiting room’ chairs “don’t allow you to have a strong enough hold on them”.

She said: “Some mornings you would come in and the chair was gone next to your incubator.

“The nurses hated it and I overheard them talking about doing some fundraising. I said that me and Stanley wanted to help once we got out of there.

“Even if I got one chair, it would just help doing something positive with this horrible situation. It’s getting me out of bed at the moment.

“When I feel sad, I sit there scrolling through the names (of the people who have donated). There are a lot of people I don’t know. They have been so generous and that has really helped me to feel positive.

“The world can be so cruel, so when I read through and see how many lovely people there are, it gives me a little bit of light.

“When I was pregnant I kept saying ‘he is going to do amazing things’. I didn’t think I would get to feel proud of him but I do as we are doing something positive in his name.”

Clara plans to close the fundraiser either after Stanley’s funeral or on his due date - April 29, whichever comes last. She will then organise a big cheque to donate to the ward and she hopes to get a picture of the presentation so it can sit on her unit next to Stanley’s ashes.

Donate to the fundraiser via Clara’s GoFundMe page here.