Family donate photography equipment to RD&E labour ward

Parents Claire and Mark Rider have donated photography equipment to the labour ward at the Royal Devon and Exeter Hospital to help families capture precious memories if their baby is born sleeping.

The couple founded the charity Ayrton’s Dream in memory of their son Aryton who they lost in May 2013. The charity aims to support families who suffer a similar bereavement on the Labour Ward at the RD&E and have recently funded the refurbishment of the Heartsease Room, a place set aside for parents who have a still born child.

Over the last three years, Claire and Mark have undertaken a number of fundraising activities, including a four mile sponsored sea swim in Torquay every September, so they can continue to support the Heartsease Room.

They recently used the proceeds from last year’s swim to purchase a digital camera, printer and 48 SD cards for the Labour Ward so staff can help parents create treasured memories of their babies.  They have also funded a training course with charity Gifts of Remembrance so midwives on the ward can improve their photography skills.

Claire said: “having photos of your child is so important and can be something to cherish. Sometimes it’s all you have.  Most people with children probably have lots of photos of them, but just because yours is born sleeping it doesn’t mean you can’t too.

“I know that when things go wrong, you may not automatically think to grab your camera before you go into hospital or that you may not want to take photos at the time. It’s afterwards that you might realise that you would like to see some pictures. So being able to hand someone an SD card with memories they can keep forever, at least then they have the option to look back if and when they want to.”

Debbie Stevens, Labour Ward Matron, said: “We do provide a photography service but we were getting feedback from some parents that they felt they would have liked more photographs to keep. So we are really pleased that Ayrton’s Dream has funded this equipment. It’s going to make a really big difference for our patients.”

The next Ayrton’s Dream sponsored Swim takes place on the 4th September 2016 at 8am. If you are interested in taking part or to find out more visit www.ayrtonsdream.co.uk