When Kate and Joel Stevenson lost their beautiful little girl Matilda at 10 days old, they never imagined they would raise over $30,000 to help countless future mothers with their bubs.
But, despite their grief, that’s exactly what the pair did.
The funds raised by the duo in partnership with the Monash Health Foundation have allowed Monash Children’s Hospital to purchase 16 breast pumps for our Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), which will help better support pump-dependant mothers build and maintain their expressed breastmilk supplies.
Kate said it was the compassion and kindness of the doctors and nurses on the ward that made her feel like she needed to give back.
“They were just incredible,” she said.
“Matilda had someone at her bedside at all times, the nurses were always happy to give me updates whenever I called and they even helped me make memories by taking photos, footprints, handprints and a lock of her hair.”
The nurses even affectionately used her nickname Tilly, and Kate felt like they did “so much more than their job title.”
“They went above and beyond and made that time we had so amazing, we cried together, laughed together and at times just shared the silence together,” Kate said.
Matilda faced challenges from birth in April last year, which resulted in her being resuscitated and rushed to the NICU. Unfortunately, Matilda was not able to recover, despite fighting really hard for 10 days.
“If we weren’t at the NICU we wouldn’t have had those 10 days, so we are just extremely grateful for the time we did have,” Kate said.
“Most of our family got to meet her, but Joel and I were the only ones who were able to hold her.”Matilda’s full name was engraved on each and every breast pump donated to the hospital to honour her memory.Initially, the parents set a goal to raise enough money for at least two breast pumps – and ended up completely smashing it out of the park to raise $33,000 for all the 16 pumps the hospital needed.
“I did a bit of hustling, I even managed to get a company to donate one breast pump worth $2,900, so we only had to purchase 15,” she said.
“Joel and I put in the last amount for the final breast pump, which is the money we would have put towards Matilda’s first birthday.”
The breast pumps, engraved with Matilda’s name, were delivered to the hospital in May where a celebratory event was held to commemorate the hard work Kate and Joel put in.
“It was hard going back into the hospital, but it was really nice to be back this time for a happier occasion,” Kate said.
“We walked out knowing we did a really good job and honoured our daughter through helping so many others.”
