Bringing the Purple Butterfly initiative to NZ

Millie, a neonatal mum in the UK, had a great idea for reducing the stress and anxiety involved in certain neonatal journeys. With the blessing of Millie, and working with Multiples NZ, The Neonatal Trust are bringing this great idea to New Zealand.

Millie sadly lost Skye, one of her twins, very early on. While still in the NICU there were a few emotional moments that Millie endured that she believed could have been avoided with the use of a consistent sticker. The Purple Butterfly initiative was born . . .

In Millie's words:

We set up The Skye High Foundation in memory of our daughter. We have since created the Purple Butterfly sticker, which is meant to be placed on an incubator to let people know when a baby in a multiple pregnancy has passed away.

“None of the other parents knew what had happened or anything about Skye,” Smith explains.

“The comment was completely innocent and more out of humour. A parent of twins turned to me, when their babies were crying, and said, “You are so lucky you just have one.’ They weren’t to know that I did at one point have two. But the comment nearly broke me. I ran out [of] the room in tears and they had no idea why. I didn’t have the heart to tell them what had happened. A simple sticker would have avoided that entire situation.”

Jessica Watson, a mother of two surviving triplets who blogs at Four Plus An Angel, explains that the butterfly stickers would have been very helpful for her. “When your baby is in the NICU so many medical professionals come and go and it’s a heart-wrenching process to have to explain that they lost a sibling over and over again,” she says.

To learn more, more details are available here: www.babble.com/parenting/butterfly-stickers-milli-smith/

The funds raised will be used to:

- Make a donation to The Skye High Foundation (to acknowledge the work undertaken to create the resources)

- Create a supply of Purple Butterfly stickers for use in NICUs and SCBUs in New Zealand

- Develop posters, fliers and other resources and distribute these to all neonatal units in NZ

If our target is exceeded, we will put the funds toward:

* our general support of neonatal families. Examples of this can be seen in this gallery: https://goo.gl/O69Lpc

* the production of some new and enhanced resources for parents of multiples. These to be developed in conjunction with Multiples New Zealand