A grieving mum has launched a bid to fund two new 'cuddle cots' in memory of her baby daughter.
Alex Brown, 28, made the heartbreaking decision to give birth in her second trimester after discovering her baby had a rare neural tube defect affecting her skull.
Alex's daughter Harriett was born at North Manchester General Hospital on April 2., living for just two hours and 16 minutes.
A piece of equipment known as a 'cool cot' enabled Alex and her partner Chris to have more time with their baby after she had passed away.
The cool cot, also known as a cuddle cut, has a thin mattress filled with cold water which regulates the temperature of the cot.
The cooling unit reduces the time of deterioration, allowing bereaved families longer with their baby.
Alex, a mum-of-one from Bury, said the cot was 'invaluable' to them at such a difficult time.
Yet many hospitals only have a few or just one of the cool cots available, prompting Alex to launch a fundraising campaign to purchase another machine for North Manchester General.
"We were able to spend 15 days with Harriett after the birth and that was only because a cold cot was available," Alex explained.
"It was amazing to have that time with her. It meant we could sleep next to her, take hand and foot prints, take photographs and put her in some specially made clothes.
"But the hospital only has one of these cots so if another baby had been still born, the cot wouldn't have been available for another family.
"We thought carefully about it and decided that we wanted to raise enough money to buy another."
Alex, 28, quickly reached her £3000 target - enough to buy one new cool cot - and decided to up their goal to £6,540 to buy a second cot for the Royal Bolton Hospital.
She hopes the cots will help other families coming to terms with baby loss.
Alex learned that Harriett a neural tube defect affecting her skull when she was 13 weeks pregnant.
The condition, known as acrania, affects around one in 50,000 babies.
Alex, who has little boy Henry, two, was offered a termination but decided to continue with the pregnancy for as long as safely possible.
She said: "I was heartbroken. We had gone through fertility treatment to conceive and I had already had four losses.
"I decided to carry on for those extra weeks because it was important for me to know who she was.
"That's why the cool cot was so important to me."
People can donate to Alex's Crowdfunding page here.
