Couple whose daughter was stillborn said they will 'forever be in debt to Zoe's Place'

A cast of baby Sofia-Loren's hand holding those of her mums, Faye and Lauren
-Credit: (Image: Provided by the family)


A heartbroken couple turned to Zoe's Place at their darkest time and found love, support and guidance from the West Derby-based baby hospice. Lauren and Faye Sweeney-Cummins lost their beloved daughter Sofia-Loren in March 2022 and were devastated by the news the hospice is going to close this year. Zoe's Place provides respite, palliative and end-of-life care for babies and children up to the age of five, and also gives grieving families bereavement support in their specialist Snowdrop Suite.

Faye, 32, was 35-and-a-half weeks pregnant when doctors discovered her baby didn't have a heartbeat. She gave birth to her daughter Sofia-Loren stillborn. Speaking to the ECHO, Faye's wife Lauren, 35, said: "It was such a horrible time and we were in such a difficult position, but we were fortunate enough to have Zoe's Place on our doorstep to help us."

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The couple took Sofia-Loren to Zoe's Place, where staff had set up a room for her to be laid at rest. Faye and Lauren were able to spend two weeks with their daughter, "creating memories that will last a lifetime". Next to Sofia-Loren's temperature-controlled room was a living area for the family, where they could stay to be near their daughter. Cuddle cots were set up and Lauren and Faye created a 'home from home' for Sofia-Loren, surrounding her with teddies, toys and books.

Lauren said: "The support was invaluable. The staff were out of this world, they couldn't do enough for us. We could never have imagined it. Without them we wouldn't have been able to create any memories with Sofia.

"We showed her the garden and also watched a game of football with her - we're both big Liverpool fans so that was important. During the pregnancy, we used to read to her a lot. We'd read Paper Dolls by Julia Donaldson all the time. When we were at Zoe's Place with her, we had time to read to her and we brought in all her books from home."

Zoe's Place also helped Lauren and Faye with funeral support and put them in contact with a counselling service. Lauren added: "They really helped us through the grieving process and we made close friends off the back of it." The hospice also helped them make hand and feet casts from Sofia-Loren and a family version using casts of all three of them together.

When news broke about the hospice closing, Lauren and Faye were distraught. Lauren said: "We are a million percent happy to support the ECHO's campaign to save Zoe's Place. Even after three years, we still attend monthly support groups with families in a similar position to ourselves which is put on through Zoe's Place. The respite service they provide is incredible too. You can see the level of joy and fun the kids have there."

The couple are now proud mums to eight month old twins, Arabella and Caleb. They talk about Sofia-Loren every day to ensure her siblings know all about her.

Lauren said: "Sofia is with us every single day. We constantly talk to the twins about her and we read stories to her every night. That's all down to Zoe's Place and being able to grieve for her properly. We're forever going to be in their debt."