TIFTON — When Jessica Spradlin’s youngest child, Kailor Dean, was born, he was only 22 weeks, four days grown and passed within an hour of delivery. Spradlin used the pain of that loss to help other South Georgia parents who lose babies.

“After having my son, I had to send him to the morgue within three hours,” she said. “I only got to see him twice after that. So it’s pretty traumatic and it helps a lot to not have to do that.”

Spradlin and Rachel Lott, who lost her daughter, Denver Lynn, at the same time, raised funds to purchase and donate a Cuddle Cot to Phoebe Putney in Albany, which has a high-level Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

Spradlin said that since that location has the only maternal fetal medicine specialist for 22 counties and sees the sickest, most premature infants, they would have the most need for the Cuddle Cot.

“We donated the Cuddle Cot, which is basically like an in-room morgue for a baby so when they pass away, they can stay in the room with you,” Spradlin said. “We crocheted over 100 hats. I did 50 of them and a friend of mine did another 50. They’re using those for babies that pass away.”

They also donated 112 photo albums, which the NICU uses to document each baby’s journey while they’re in their care.

“We also donated blankets,” Spradlin said. “We did not make those, those were a donation from Arizona. They are blankets specifically crocheted for the Cuddle Cot.”

Kailor was so small when he was born that there were no clothes small enough for him, and Spradlin talked about many mothers who have had to bury their babies in doll clothes or in just a blanket. Spradlin also received a box of clothing made just for very small babies to be buried in.

All of the items are geared towards easing the burden of parents who go through the pain and trauma of losing a baby at or just after birth.

Spradlin said that the Cuddle Cot was important for them to donate because they are expensive pieces of equipment and are only manufactured in the United Kingdom.

Spradlin and Lott also founded Kindness for Kailor, which works to support parents who have lost children. She is in the process of getting 501(c)3 status for the organization.

“I started off crocheting hats, thinking there was some way I could give back to others,” Spradlin said. “Kailor had a hat that somebody crocheted up there. Then we started fundraising for the Cuddle Cot. That’s why we did it, because we’ve been through it. We wanted to give back to others because you feel very alone when you go through it. I didn’t want others to feel like that.”

Spradlin also started a blog called A Moment With Kailor to help connect other mothers in the area who have lost babies. She makes a point to highlight babies that were born at 22 weeks, like her son, and to show how they are growing and thriving, as well as host a place to remember those babies who passed.

“I talk to people every single day,” she said. “If you knew how hard that is when you’re still grieving, my son died January 28th, and then you talk to people about it. But it helps for people to know that somebody’s been in the exact same shoes they have. People always say, ‘I know how you feel.’ But you really don’t know how it feels to lose a child until you’ve lost one.”