Woman, 24, gifting free memory boxes to parents grieving baby loss
A self-less woman is offering free keep-sake parcels to families struggling with baby loss after suffering two miscarriages herself.
Courtney Greener was almost five months pregnant with her son, Ezra when she was rushed to the hospital after starting to miscarry during the night.
The 24-year-old from Sunderland gave birth in the early hours of September 7, 2021, and doctors declared the cause of the miscarriage was an early abiotic fluid infection.
A few months later, as she and her partner Gary, did their best to recover from their loss and continue to try for their family, Courtney fell pregnant again, which ended in another tragic loss.
Ms Greener explained: “On September 6, 2021, 1 I was almost five months pregnant and I began to have complications. I went to the hospital and found out I was starting to miscarry and I had to stay in the hospital overnight.
“At 2:30am on the September 7, II gave birth. The reason I say I gave birth is that I heard my baby’s heartbeat a couple of hours prior and I experienced everything a woman would if I was full term.
“A few weeks later we got the post-mortem results back and it turned out they found an early amniotic fluid infection in the placenta, which caused premature birth. At this time we also found out that the baby was a boy so we named him Ezra.
“This infection occurs a lot in first pregnancies and there is nothing you can do to prevent it. On October 15, we had a funeral to lay him to rest and a remembrance service later that day. The next few months were really difficult for us but we somehow managed to pull through.
“It was then when I got the idea to start ‘Ezra’s Wings’ but at the time it wasn’t financially viable to start up, but the idea kept growing in the back of my mind. On February 25, I found out I was pregnant again, I had mixed emotions of happiness, guilt and anxiety.
“When I was 8 weeks I began to have complications again and I had an early scan, the fetal pole was only the size of a 6-week pregnancy. I went for a second scan 2 weeks later and it confirmed that the baby just wasn’t growing, it was a missed miscarriage.
“ It was after the second loss that I became more determined to start ‘Ezra’s Wings’. I just want to try and bring some sort of comfort to other parents who have lost and show them that they are not alone. “
Courtney began collecting items to remind her of Ezra and the early pregnancy loss of her little ‘jellybean’ which was when she was gifted a free parcel from a woman in a miscarriage support group.
The gift helped the young woman with her healing and she took advice on how to start her own enterprise which is now up and running (find out more below.)
She now believes the enterprise has helped her with her own healing, as she explained: “Starting ‘Ezra’s Wings’ is helping me get by each day at a time. It’s keeping my mind occupied and being able to do a nice thing for people who have experienced a similar thing to me is making me feel a bit more positive about myself. I feel like when people receive these parcels they feel some sort of comfort knowing that their baby is being acknowledged and they are not alone.
“When I first lost Ezra I felt so alone and I wish I had something like this from the beginning to help me feel more at ease, and I know there are loads of parents out there that feel the same way.”
What is included in the parcels?
Each parcel includes:
- A bracelet with your baby’s name on, a keyring with your baby’s name on or a nickname if you don’t know the gender.
- An acknowledgement of life certificate
- Forget-me-not seeds
- A feather
- A tealight candle
- A knitted set of hat, booties and nappy.
The contents may grow as the enterprise grows.
How to support the cause?
‘Ezra’s Wings’ is done on a donation basis and supplies can be made through an Amazon wishlist.
Items can also be arranged for donation through messages on social media.
How to get a parcel?
Ezra’s Wings can be contacted via Facebook, Instagram and TikTok.
