CuddleCot™ – Providing Gentle Cooling to Support Family Time in Any Care Setting
What is the CuddleCot? The CuddleCot is a unique temperature-controlled cooling system that slows natural changes, and allows parents to hold, cuddle, and spend meaningful time with their baby after death using any cot or bassinet.
Who uses it? Trusted in thousands of hospitals, NICUs, hospices, and homes worldwide, it supports compassionate bereavement care without the need for harmful chemicals, ice or repeated transfers to a mortuary.
Is there support? Our team is experienced in supporting bereavement teams globally, with dedicated local support across North America and Europe with immediate dispatch.
Compatible with Hospital Bassinets and Trolleys
Using the bassinet supplied with the CuddleCot is completely optional, and not essential to cooling process.
2 in 1 Design for All Gestations
CuddleCot comes with a pre-term and full-term temperature controlled cooling pad as standard.
Easy to Clean
Simply wipe down with a plastic safe cleaning product or wipe of your choice
Free From Refrigerant Gases and Harmful Chemicals
The CuddleCot uses a simple water-based cooling system to provide gentle, continuous cooling without the need for harmful chemicals.
With no hazardous substances involved, the CuddleCot provides a gentle, safe, and environmentally responsible approach to compassionate bereavement care.
No Ice Build-Up or Frozen Surfaces
The CuddleCot uses a gentle water-based cooling system that does not create ice build-up or frozen surfaces.
This helps protect a baby's delicate skin while providing safe, consistent cooling during precious time together.
Hold Baby Without Interrupting Cooling
Unique temperature-controlled cooling pads allow parents to hold their baby while gentle cooling continues.
There's no need to return baby to a cot to maintain cooling, giving families precious, uninterrupted time together.
What the CuddleCot does
✓ Gentle, Continuous Cooling for Pre-Term and Full-Term Babies
The CuddleCot provides continuous, regulated cooling through discreet, flexible, temperature-controlled pads. It is suitable for both pre-term and full-term babies and can be used in any cot, crib, basket, or in a parent’s arms.
Unlike traditional methods such as ice packs or repeated transfers to a mortuary, the CuddleCot keeps baby close to family while maintaining consistent cooling.
There is no need to swap pads, change mattresses, or ask parents to return baby to a bassinet for continued cooling.
✓ Uninterrupted Time for Families
The flexible cooling pad allows parents to hold, cradle, and spend uninterrupted time with their baby without feeling pressure or time constraints. Cooling continues gently and discreetly in the background, supporting meaningful moments, memory making, and final goodbyes.
This approach provides reassurance and peace of mind to families, knowing their baby is being cared for respectfully and safely while remaining close.
✓ Quick Setup for Healthcare Professionals
The CuddleCot system can be set up in under five minutes, enabling hospital, hospice, and funeral care teams to respond quickly at the point of need. Its simple design supports ease of use in maternity units, neonatal departments, bereavement suites, and funeral homes.
✓ A Dignified Alternative to Ice or Large Cooling Units
Unlike ice, bulky clinical cooling units, or repeated mortuary transfers, the CuddleCot offers discreet, dignified, and temperature-controlled care within the family’s chosen setting. It enables parents to remain together with their baby for as long as they need, supporting compassionate bereavement care.
For hospitals, hospices, and funeral homes seeking a proven infant cooling device that prioritises family choice, dignity, and continuity of care, the CuddleCot provides a trusted solution.
Why the CuddleCot matters - H. Fox, Director of Nursing, Banner Health
A. It’s the right thing to do.
In the face of loss, we can’t change the outcome, but we can change the experience. Providing families with the option of a CuddleCot gives them precious time and space to say goodbye. This support is deeply meaningful, not only to the family, but also to the nurses, providers, and staff who want to offer compassionate, dignified care.
B. It directly impacts patient experience and trust.
When families feel supported during the most vulnerable moments of their lives, they are more likely to feel confident returning to the hospital in the future, especially if they choose to have another child. Positive care experiences influence decisions about where to seek future care.
C. The absence of a CuddleCot can have lasting consequences.
When families later learn that a device like the CuddleCot could have given them more time with their baby, it can add to their pain and lead to feelings of resentment or regret. This can negatively affect their perception of the care they received, and the reputation of the hospital.
D. Personalized care is the most valued element of patient experience.
Studies consistently show that personalized, compassionate care is the number one driver of hospital reputation. Offering a CuddleCot reflects a commitment to individualized, family-centered support during loss.
Why families and clinicians choose CuddleCot
Traditional cooling methods often rely on bulky clinical equipment, ice packs or repeated transfers to a mortuary. These approaches can feel distressing for families and place additional strain on clinical teams.
- Ice can be visible, difficult to manage, and requires frequent replacement. Temperature can fluctuate, especially when baby is being held, limiting the time families can spend together.
- Repeated trips to a morgue separate families from their baby, interrupt precious moments, and can increase emotional distress during an already traumatic time.
- Cold cots provide cooling when baby is in contact with the refrigerated box, however when parent's take baby out, baby is not being continually cooled.
- UL certification and compliance is a safety standard assuring that a product has been rigorously tested to meet global safety standards. UL standards aim to remove risks of fire and electric shock caused by electric products.
The CuddleCot provides a gentle and discreet alternative that keeps baby with their family, supports privacy, and removes the need for repeated handling or movement. Care teams do not need to manage or replace ice and pads, reducing workload and disruption, while families experience a calmer and more dignified environment.
What Makes CuddleCot a Unique Perinatal Bereavement Cooling Device?
CuddleCot Key Takeaways
- Uses a water-based cooling system with no harmful chemicals
- Gently cools pre-term and full-term babies after loss, from day one, using a single device
- Temperature-controlled pads maintain a consistent, safe cooling temperature even in parent's arms
- Can be used with any existing bassinet, or without a bassinet if parents wish to hold their baby
- Allows parents to hold their baby with continuous cooling, without temperature fluctuations
- Portable, discreet, and suitable for use across care settings
- Set up in less than five minutes
- Easy to clean using plastic-safe wipes such as Clinell Wipes
- Trusted by thousands of healthcare teams worldwide
- Dedicated support teams in the USA, Canada, and the UK
- Immediate dispatch available
- No credit card fees
- Free evidence based online bereavement care training included
- Free online healthcare resources and ongoing customer support
Contact info@cuddlecot.com for more information
Designed around the family experience
What sets the CuddleCot apart is the experience it offers families.
Parents can choose how and where they spend time with their baby. They can hold them, place them in a familiar cot, or move between the two without interruption.
Because cooling is continuous and discreet, families can focus on their baby rather than the equipment.
This time allows parents to take photos, create memories, welcome extended family, observe cultural or spiritual practices, and receive support without feeling rushed.
Worldwide Clinical Trust. Dedicated Local Support.
The CuddleCot is a gentle perinatal bereavement cooling device trusted by leading hospital networks worldwide.
Available globally, including across the Americas, the United States, Canada, Panama, Mexico, Chile, and Colombia, as well as throughout Europe, the CuddleCot supports professionals in delivering compassionate care wherever it is needed.
It is used in hospitals recognised among America’s Best Maternity Hospitals, across the NHS in the UK, and by healthcare providers throughout Australia, Canada, and Europe to support families experiencing infant loss.
CuddleCot supports best practice in bereavement care by reducing unnecessary transfers, removing the need for improvised cooling methods such as ice, and allowing clinical teams to focus on compassionate family support rather than managing pads or mattresses.
Our team brings extensive experience in supporting bereavement services globally, with dedicated local support across North America and Europe to provide responsive guidance, training, and ongoing assistance.
How can I ensure equitable access to bereavement care?
To ensure equitable access to bereavement care, CuddleCot recommend departments provide at least one cooling device per 1,000 births annually. For example, a facility with 5,000 births per year should have a minimum of five CuddleCots available.
CuddleCots are used in L&D, NICU, Emergency departments, and anywhere that mother and baby receive care.
Every family deserves the opportunity to choose what their care looks like, including access to cooling and meaningful bereavement support.
Could your team offer cooling if a family asked for it? Would they feel confident supporting a grieving family?
In The Media
CuddleCot Featured in New York Times
New York Times: A Device That Gives Parents of Stillborn Babies Time to Say Goodbye
"When a baby dies before they are born or shortly thereafter, parents are often alone in a hospital with a limited source of comfort and little, if any, opportunity to say goodbye to the baby — or babies."
"Enter the CuddleCot, a kind of cooled baby bed that helps to gently cool the body of a deceased newborn for days. The device gives parents a chance to bond with their babies — to love and hold them, take pictures, even take them home and take them for walks, creating memories to last a lifetime."
(New York Times Source)
CuddleCot Featured in People Magazine EXCLUSIVE
New York Times: A Device That Gives Parents of Stillborn Babies Time to Say Goodbye
"Emily Rollinson, who has been sharing her experience using the CuddleCot on her TikTok, tells PEOPLE the device let her process her grief on her own terms"
"Dexter was able to stay with Rollinson and her family for 10 days in a CuddleCot — a portable, water-cooled bassinet system that cools the carriage to slow down natural changes in a baby who has died. CuddleCots provide grieving parents with extra time to create memories with their babies, bond and say goodbye."
"I was made aware of a CuddleCot at around 28 weeks pregnant when I spoke to the bereavement midwife," says Rollinson. "In the U.K. [where Rollinson lives], most [grieving] parents will use a CuddleCot at home for around five days, but this is flexible and every family needing it can decide for themselves."
(People Magazine Source)
When Alana came into the world at 37 weeks, silent and still, I felt all the pride that any mother does after delivering their baby. I cuddled her, bathed her, and dressed her in the outfit that had been bought to take her home in. I was in a blissful bubble that allowed me to mother her and the fact she wasn't alive didn't change that.
However, very soon the bubble burst, and reality hit. I didn't want this to end. I needed to stay with her. I wasn't ready to say goodbye. It had been a few hours since she was born and the nurse asked if we wanted the CuddleCot for her to lay in. I didn't really understand what this was but I remember being told it would keep her cool and slow down any change in her appearance.
I agreed to the CuddleCot still not really understanding how it worked. I felt anxious as I imagined the cot to be something that I wouldn't really want to put my baby in. Once ready, I nervously walked down the corridor holding Alana, and entered the room. I looked for the CuddleCot but what I saw was a lovely wicker Moses basket. The same kind that you would see in any living baby's nursery. I laid Alana in the CuddleCot and made her comfortable, surrounded by her teddies and blankets. Her dad and I managed to get some sleep whilst she lay beside us.
The CuddleCot gave us the gift of time and with this time we made memories. Our family was able to come and see Alana on different days without overwhelming us all at once. I was able to stay overnight with her, cuddling her and doing 'normal' things like watching my favourite TV shows. I was able to really spend time looking at her and talking to her. Reading stories to her and playing music. The CuddleCot allowed me to slow down in a time of chaos. It allowed me to take some control as I was able to choose when the time was right for us to say goodbye.
It was only really after we said goodbye that I fully appreciated how vital the CuddleCot was for us. If we didn't have it then we would not have been able to create such precious memories. I am eternally grateful to St Mary's for providing us with a CuddleCot and I believe that it is vital for all bereaved families to have access to one.
Mary Murray
CuddleCot and SSAFA:
Fundraising for a CuddleCot: Emma and Graeme’s Story
Nottingham Review Statement
‘While You Were Apart’ Words from those who cared for your baby
Bringing Thea home was so important to us.
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