Mabel'S Butterfly

Providing newly bereaved parents with hand made items

My daughter was stillborn in 2011. I only had twelve short hours with her. At the time I didn’t realise how important those hours would be, how what happened during that time would shape the path my grief would take.

I was very lucky to have wonderful midwives who treated my daughter just like any other baby and helped me collect all those small tokens that would come to mean so much when I walked out of the hospital with out her.

In 2013 I began a program through Sands Queensland to help support bereaved parents at this critical time. Butterfly is a handmade bag containing support material and memory creation items. The bags are donated to hospitals across Queensland, along with outfits, beanies and blankets. The aim is for parents to be given every opportunity to create memories and for the time they spend with their babies to be as gentle and loving as can be.

Unfortunately at present there is a bigger demand than supply of these items. If you can sew, knit or crochet, if you are part of a group looking for a project or you would just like to help getting these resources to hospitals, I’d love to hear from you. You can contact me at

email events@sandsqld.org. au

or post items to
PO BOX 934
New Farm,
Qld 4005

or items can be dropped off at our Brisbane or Cairns locations.

All donations of items will go to directly to a hospital in need.

Donations of material will also be gratefully accepted. Plain cottons in soft colours - pinks, blues, greens, purples and white.

Thank you