Wisconsin mother provides loving home for terminally ill babies

Wisconsin mother provides loving home for terminally ill babies


Save Story
Leer en español

Estimated read time: 3-4 minutes

This archived news story is available only for your personal, non-commercial use. Information in the story may be outdated or superseded by additional information. Reading or replaying the story in its archived form does not constitute a republication of the story.

SHEBOYGAN, Wis. — A Wisconsin mother has made it her personal mission to give terminally ill babies a family with whom they can spend their final days.

Cori Salchert is a nurse by trade and a mother to eight biological children. As if she didn't already have her hands full, Salchert and her husband have taken to fostering and adopting so-called "hospice babies" — infants who've received terminal or life-limiting diagnoses whose birth parents had given up guardianship, according to the Sheboygan Press.

"These children need nurses, but the overarching thing is, they need moms," Salchert said. "Too many people never do anything because they can't do everything and can't save everyone. For me, even though I can't help every child, I'm happy to make a difference in the lives of a few."

The idea came to her when she worked full time as a nurse and perinatal bereavement specialist for the Hope After Loss Organization — which helps families cope with the loss of a baby.

Her work involved cradling a dying baby in her arms in their final moments if the pain was just too great for the parents to stick around, according to the Sheboygan Press.

"There was no judgment on my part that the parents should just be able to deal with the circumstances," Salchert said. "But I thought, 'Wow, I would really like to take those kiddos and care for them.'"

Five years ago, Salchert's battle with an autoimmune disorder forced her to quit her job — and while she was initially disheartened and lost, the situation also opened the door for her to fulfill her dream of bringing those seemingly forgotten babies into her home, the Sheboygan Press reports.

The Salcherts worked with a foster care program run by the Children's Hospital of Wisconsin, and brought home their first hospice baby — Emmalynn — in 2012.

Emmalynn was born without the right or left hemisphere of her brain, and came to the Salcherts in a vegetative state — unable to see or hear, Salchert told Today.

"She could have died in the hospital, wrapped in a blanket and set to the side because she was being sustained with a feeding pump," Salchert said. "But we brought this beautiful baby home to live, and live she did."

Emmalynn spent the 50 short days of her life enveloped in the love of the Salchert family. She was constantly surrounded by her eight siblings and accompanied the family wherever they went.

When she passed, she slipped away in the arms of a mother who loved her.

"She'd left this world hearing my heartbeat. She didn't suffer, she wasn't in pain, and she most certainly wasn't alone," Salchert told Today.

The family took in another child — Jayden — and fostered him until he was adopted by biological relatives. Now, the Salcherts are caring for Charlie, who has major neurological deficits and is dependent on a ventilator, feeding tube and trach, according to the Sheboygan Press.

"He will die; there's no changing that," Salchert said. "But we can make a difference in how he lives, and the difference for Charlie is that he will be loved before he dies."

Even though their mission is painful, it has been well worth the emotional toll, Salchert says.

"We invest deeply, and we ache terribly when these kids die, but our hearts are like stained-glass windows," she told Today. "Those windows are made of broken glass which has been forged back together, and those windows are even stronger and more beautiful for having been broken."

Related links

Most recent Family stories

Related topics

UpliftingFamily
Jessica Ivins

    STAY IN THE KNOW

    Get informative articles and interesting stories delivered to your inbox weekly. Subscribe to the KSL.com Trending 5.
    By subscribing, you acknowledge and agree to KSL.com's Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

    KSL Weather Forecast