Pre-Term Bereavement

Pre-Term Bereavement

Vincent Funeral Services provides a free direct cremation (no service) for stillborn infants to support you at this time.

This includes collection of the baby from the Maternity Ward, NWRH, between 9 am and 4.30 pm Monday - Friday (excluding public holidays), 

provision of a basic coffin if required, cremation, and return of the ashes.

Ashes are returned in a simple plastic container, however keepsake urns are available from $75.

If burial is chosen council fees will apply.

Funeral services in our chapels, at graveside, church etc, flowers, newspaper announcements, clergy fees and other disbursements will attract fees and we are happy to provide quotes for these items at any time. 

Cuddle Cot Custodians

Vincent Funeral Services supports North West Tasmanian families of infant loss as custodians of a Cuddle Cot donated by Morgan Herbert and The Fairy Godmothers. 

Caring for other North West coast families experiencing stillbirth has been the drive behind Morgan Herbert fundraising towards the purchase of a Cuddle Cot.

?When we lost our daughter Alice, who was stillborn in June 2012 at 19.5 weeks gestation, there were no cuddle cots available on the North West Coast being such a new piece of equipment.?

A ?cuddle cot? is a piece of medical equipment with an eight degree cooling pad that is placed in the crib and allows babies to stay in the room with their parents so they do not need to be taken straight to the mortuary. This allows bereaved families a few more hours or days with their child, enough to somehow reconcile the loss. It offers time to say goodbye but also, importantly, hello.

?To have been able to spend just little more time to make some memories with her would have been so beneficial in our grieving process. Instead we only had 11 hours with her. We spent them just holding her, taking photos and telling her how much we loved her in that short amount of time. Even though the staff at NWPH gave us as much time as they could it was not enough. I regret so many things we didn?t do and we will never get another chance to do them. I couldn?t stand the thought of anyone else having to feel that way for the rest of their lives.? Morgan said.

Morgan is a member of The Fairy Godmothers group whose fundraising received from other families who had been effected by pregnancy loss and donations from the community has ensured that a cuddle cot is available in every major hospital in Tasmania that had a maternity ward. ?After this I was worried about the need for a spare on the North West and even Central Coast. The hospitals only had limited amount of storage and thought it highly unlikely that the cots would all be in use at the one time. Being a part of the pregnancy and infant loss online community and seeing the number of new parents being added daily I wasn?t so certain.? Morgan said. The project to have a spare ?Cuddle Cot? that could be used either in the hospital or at home then evolved with Vincent Funeral Services pledge to be the caretakers of this Cuddle Cot and provide storage, transport and assistance in its use as needed by families. ?Vincent Funerals Services is excited to be involved with this project, it gels with our own community support focus for families of stillborn infants by providing a free cremation and transfer service for stillborn infants .?Tara Vincent said.

Morgan started fundraising through online auctions, dinners, in store donation tins, online garage sales with donated items, snack selling fundraisers by family, slice fundraising and cash donations from generous people. ?I eventually had the total of $4,295.50. We were then able to purchase and hand over the cuddle cot to Vincent Funeral Services. I could not have done it without the amazing help from family and friends, The Fairy Godmothers, support from local businesses and the North-West Coast community.? Morgan said.

Together, Fairy Godmothers and Vincent Funeral Services are now working towards their next project. The Bronze Tree of Life will be placed at the Burnie Lawn Cemetery later this year, and each leaf on the tree will represent a stillborn child and their name and date of birth memorialized.