A family in Richmond has come up with a special way of remembering their stillborn baby this Christmas.
Every day until December 25, Madeleine O'Keeffe and her toddler Oscar are opening a door on an advent calendar painted onto their living room window.
Unveiling festive images, they are hoping to lift spirits inside the house while brightening up the road for neighbours and passers-by.
In August 2020, Mrs O’Keeffe and her husband Dan lost their baby son shortly after his due date at West Middlesex Hospital, Isleworth.
The 36-year-old said she was nervous in the run-up to Christmas - a time traditionally filled with family, festivity, and cheer.
While on maternity leave, Mrs O’Keeffe and her two-year-old son have found another way to keep her lost baby in their thoughts.
Each morning, the pair open a new door of the calendar in their living room window – revealing anything from a snowflake or gingerbread man to a Santa hat-wearing fish or hula hooping frog.
Mrs O'Keeffe says the display was more than just a fun activity involving glitter and paints. “It has been a collective experience, for our baby and with him,” she said.
Posting the photos to her Instagram account “One More Star 2020” she hopes to bring relief to family, friends, and anyone who has suffered grief this year.
“It’s been a year of so much loss. It’s a communal thing to do in December when we’re all a bit isolated,” she said.
The family have also taken the opportunity to fundraise for the child bereavement services which saw them through the loss of their baby.
Proceeds are split between charities such as Remember My Baby, which organisers volunteer photographers to come into the hospital to capture the precious few hours that families might have with their baby, and 4Louis which provides memory boxes for hospitals to give to parents.
The family are also donating to Tommy's, a national charity that funds research into pregnancy loss and premature birth in the UK, and Sands which provides support, research and training around stillbirth and neonatal death.
Mrs O’Keeffe says she has been overwhelmed by the amount of support shown – extending the fundraising target after it was reached within the first day.
She is hoping to reach over £3000 by December 24, with an extra meaningful decoration planned for the finale.
“When our son passed away my mum said, ‘we think of him as a star in the sky’. So we wanted to make a special star for our baby and all the other stars up in the sky. It’s for anyone who has suffered the loss of a love one,”’ she added.
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