When Noa died at Charlton Farm in November 2018, aged three months old, the care, compassion and support the family received from the hospice helped give them the time and space they needed to say goodbye.
Here mum, Jo explains why the family will be forever grateful to Charlton Farm for the vital help and support during Noa’s life and after she had died.
“Noa was our first baby, born in August 2018.
“After a complicated pregnancy, she was diagnosed at 10 weeks old with Congenital Disorder of Glycosylation type 2b. At the time we were told she was the 4th case worldwide.
“For Noa it meant she had severe epilepsy, cleft palate and small jaw. This meant she had a trachy fitted at less than an hour old.
“We spent her life in NICU, and then came to Charlton Farm where we got to spend a couple of days with her before she died.
A fond memory when spending time at the hospice is remembering being in awe of the kindness and support from all staff. Being a Midwife myself, I knew this was so important.
“Me and my husband, Jim and our daughters Nellie, aged 3 and Ada aged 1 love coming together to visit Charlton Farm and reflect on the memories that we had with Noa.
“One thing that we love about the support at Charlton Farm is despite our girls not being born when Noa was here, members of staff have built lovely relationships with them to help them process and understand grief, having lost their sister they never met. It’s incredible how they intentionally want to help support your grief for a long time after, even though our time there was so brief.
I will always remember Emma, a doctor who cared for us when we stayed at Charlton Farm, she has been a constant figure throughout our journey and we just think she’s amazing!
“We visit Charlton Farm every year on Noa's anniversary which is really special for us, and maybe that won’t be a forever thing, but now while the girls are small it’s really great getting to take them somewhere specific where they get attention and we get to mark Noa’s anniversary and somewhere she actually was.
Our favourite place is the trees in the garden where we take photos, because that was the first place Noa was properly outside in her life.
Jo is expecting her fourth baby girl and the family look forward to continuing to share precious memories made with older sister Noa.