Our daughter was born on the 10^th May 2014 at 10:24am.

She suffered from a condition called Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE). Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy (HIE) is a type of brain damage that occurs when an infant’s brain doesn’t receive enough oxygen and blood. It is a dangerous condition that requires immediate medical intervention. HIE can affect all of your baby's organs: the lungs, liver, heart, kidneys, and particularly the brain. HIE is a major cause of Cerebral Palsy.

If a baby has been identified as having HIE, their treatment will depend on what level of symptoms they have. If they have moderate to severe HIE, they are likely to receive a treatment known as mild hypothermia or cooling. This is when a baby’s temperature is lowered, to limit the extent of brain injury associated with HIE.

Treatment for HIE involves placing your baby on a special cooling mattress or wrapping them in a cooling wrap; the mattress or wrap is filled with fluid that can be cooled or warmed according to your baby’s needs. Your baby’s temperature will be monitored closely to ensure that it stays at the target temperature of 33.5 degrees for 72hours.

The Neonatal Unit in which our daughter was treated had only 2 cooling machines. If these were both in use our baby would have needed to be transferred to a different hospital with a machine available. This would have delayed the treatment and her injuries would have continued to get worse. We are extremely lucky that the last cooling machine was available for our daughter that day, this meant cooling was started within 40minutes of her birth. The quicker the baby is cooled the better the outcome.

Imagine, your baby not being placed onto your chest at delivery? No first hold of your baby for 4-5 days? Not hearing them cry due to being ventilated? The not knowing if you will be taking your baby home at all?

It is because of this treatment being available that we did get to bring our daughter home.

It has taken me 10 months to be able to talk about what we all went through …… so why now?

My aim is to raise enough funds for the Preston Neonatal Unit to purchase more vital equipment so other babies have an outcome as good as ours. The lower target to raise is £16,000.

£16,000 is enough to fund 2 Cerebral Function Monitors (CFMs) - The cerebral function monitor provides information on global cerebral activity, it indicates any seizures and other incidents within the brain activity which may be a sign of brain damage.

£21,000 (higher target) would mean we could purchase another cooling machine for the neonatal unit. 

How do we plan on raising these funds?

For every donation via this page you will be allocated a raffle number which will be entered into a draw to win one of many prizes available. (Please check our facebook page for current raffle details to ensure you have entered correctly) 

you can view the prizes available at: 

https://www.facebook.com/CaitlinsCoolingCause

All news and updates regarding our progress will be updated on this Facebook page.

Please tick that you are happy to be contacted by myself. I need to be able to view your name and email address in order to allocate the raffle number/s to you and I will contact you via email to confirm your entry.

There are some rules: Please read these carefully:

- For me to be able to allocate you a raffle number your donation cannot include Gift Aid. Please DO NOT opt in for Gift Aid if you would like your donation to receive a raffle number. (Don't worry, there will be lots more events were Gift Aid will be added to donations) I just cannot legally allow you to take part if you have opted for Gift Aid.

- UK and Northern Ireland entrants only into the raffle draw. Donations can still be made from people worldwide.

- The raffles will be drawn within 72 hours of the raffle closing and winners will be notified via email.

- Winners have until 72 hours to respond with their details so the prize can be posted. If details are not confirmed the prize will be re drawn.

- All of your personal details will not be shared with anyone without your prior agreement.

If you are a business or company and would like to donate a prize for our raffles please do get in touch with me at CaitlinsCoolingCause@hotmail.com .

Thank You for taking the time to read our story and for donating to help us raise money for the vital equipment needed to aid the cooling process.

Our first raffle raised £800 which us an amazing start, we do however have a long way to go to meet our target.

Visit our facebook page www.facebook.com/CaitlinsCoolingCause to view our current raffle and also updates of other events.

Donating through JustGiving is simple, fast and totally secure. Your details are safe with JustGiving – they’ll never sell them on or send unwanted emails. Once you donate, they’ll send your money directly to the charity. So it’s the most efficient way to donate – saving time and cutting costs for the charity.