Initially, the quilts were made for babies who had died in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (RPAH) in Sydney but before long, requests came from the midwives on the antenatal and delivery wards so families whose baby died before birth could also receive a quilt. The programme is now widespread across Australia (and beyond) largely due to hospital and patchwork/quilting networks, articles in the media and presentations to various groups that spread the word.

Jan Polverino, the midwife who started this initiative with her sister Shirley, writes:

"The aim is simple: to provide beautifully made small quilts to families who suffer the loss of a baby before or after birth as a memento, a celebration of the baby's birth and a symbol that the baby is precious and significant. Of course the quilt is offered (not forced) and an explanation is given to parents. Only occasionally is the offer of a quilt declined. Parents usually keep the quilt and take it home, often displaying it on the wall or incorporating it with other mementos of the baby. It can be a great conversation starter. Only once can I recall that a family decided to bury the quilt with the baby. It is the parent's choice. A mother was asked if she wanted us to wash her baby's quilt following her first cuddle with her baby as the baby died in her arms, because there was a blood spot on it. She said that the spot was part of her baby and she wanted to keep the quilt just as it was. So you can never really know what parents want without checking first. Other mothers have said that they can smell their babies on the quilt.

A powerful but unexpected outcome of the programme is that it has given the community an extraordinary opportunity to speak about pregnancy losses, stillbirth and neonatal death and allow (mostly but not only) women to be connected in a special way. This can aid healing and foster important connections from their shared experience irrespective of when the losses occurred. Quilters who have suffered the loss of a baby themselves, in providing quilts for someone else, have told us that the physicality of sewing in some way gives them a sense of healing knowing that they are helping someone else who has a unique understanding of what they went through.

We are very proud of this project and welcome anyone who wants to start up elsewhere. It can only be a good thing if issues surrounding pregnancy loss are demystified and people can talk about it freely."