THE PROUD mum of a little boy who was stillborn is using her story to help hospital aid other bereaved parents and creating a legacy for her son.
Jodie Pilling from Leigh had a difficult pregnancy and gave birth to her son Oakley Jepson on September 10, 2023.
The 32-year-old nursing assistant is now focussing all her grief in helping others and is sharing her story.
Jodie said: “Firstly let me say I could not be more proud to be Oakley’s mum.
“My pregnancy was difficult from the beginning and we learned that Oakley was poorly at the 20 week scan.
“After giving birth at Bolton Hospital the staff could not have been more supportive and thanks to other parents in the same situation as us previously we went to the bereavement suite which had a cuddle cot so we could have more time with Oakley but to be honest I didn’t want to put him down.
“It was a homely environment and all our family got to meet him and we got to create memories.
“Losing Oakley is so painful but we decided that we would do some good in his name and actually it’s really helped me to focus on that.”
Since his death, Jodie and partner Lucas Jepson, 29 have set about helping Bolton and other hospitals help other bereaved families.
Setting up Little Acorn’s Fundraising Instagram page, the couple have enlisted help from people across the country putting together toiletry bags for parents, and getting tiny clothes for extremely premature babies – which often cannot be found in the shops.
The have also donated memory boxes by Simba, donated charms, bears and more to help others.
Jodie added: “The Little Acorn came from a nickname Lucas had for Oakley throughout my pregnancy and it just seems right.
“Oakley’s not here but doing all of this has really been a great focus for us both. It makes me proud to think this is his little legacy.”
Lucas will also be running the Bolton Marathon to raise funds towards their efforts in helping families. To donate go to the fundraising link on their Instagram page.
To follow the Instagram page and find out how to help with the fundraising efforts, go to @little_acorns_fundraising
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