Hospitals use visual cues and symbols to communicate important information quickly and discreetly, particularly in sensitive areas like the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) or maternity wards. These symbols function as a quiet language among healthcare professionals, helping to maintain patient safety and respect privacy. The purple butterfly has gained global recognition as a silent alert to a specific family circumstance. Placed on or near a baby’s bedside, the symbol communicates a complex situation without requiring parents to repeatedly share their experience. Understanding this symbol promotes a compassionate and informed healthcare environment for families navigating grief.
What the Purple Butterfly Signifies
The purple butterfly symbol indicates that the infant receiving care was part of a multiple gestation pregnancy (twins, triplets, or more), but one or more of the siblings did not survive. This visual marker is a non-verbal communication tool developed to protect grieving parents from unintentionally painful interactions. Without this alert, staff or visitors might inadvertently ask questions that compound the family’s suffering, such as, “When are you taking the other one home?”
The symbol signals that the family is simultaneously experiencing the joy of a surviving baby and the sorrow of a child’s death. This represents a complicated grief where the celebration of new life is mixed with bereavement. The butterfly honors the lost child, ensuring their memory is acknowledged within the clinical setting. This immediate understanding allows healthcare teams to approach the family with sensitivity and a personalized care plan.
The Family Story Behind the Symbol
The Purple Butterfly Project originated from the personal experience of Millie Smith and her partner, Lewis Cann, in the United Kingdom. In 2016, they gave birth to identical twin daughters, Callie and Skye, at 30 weeks gestation. Sadly, Skye lived for only a few hours after birth, and Callie, the surviving twin, required an extended stay in the NICU.
While in the NICU, Millie received repeated, well-intentioned but hurtful comments from others unaware of her loss. One particularly painful moment occurred when another mother remarked how fortunate Millie was not to have twins. This distress highlighted the need for a way to communicate their situation without having to verbally relive the trauma. This experience motivated Millie and Lewis to establish the Skye High Foundation and create the purple butterfly symbol. The butterfly symbolizes the soul and transformation, and purple was chosen as a neutral color suitable for all genders.
How Hospitals Use the Symbol
Hospitals adopting the Purple Butterfly Project place a small, laminated card or sticker directly on the surviving baby’s cot, incubator, or isolette. This ensures the symbol is immediately visible to anyone entering the care area. In some facilities, the symbol may also be placed on the patient’s chart or room door to alert all incoming personnel.
The distinct color purple is intentional, avoiding confusion with other established clinical alerts. Hospital systems typically use colors like red for allergies or yellow for fall risks, making purple a clear and separate indicator for this specific bereavement situation. This universal, non-verbal alert system informs nurses, doctors, and ancillary staff, such as housekeepers and volunteers, serving as a consistent reminder to exercise caution and sensitivity when interacting with the family.
Supporting Families Who Have Experienced Loss
The presence of the purple butterfly symbol instructs all visitors and staff to approach the family with compassion and restraint. The appropriate response is to gently acknowledge the challenging circumstances, without demanding details about the loss or offering unhelpful platitudes. Staff should avoid phrases like, “Everything happens for a reason,” or trying to find a silver lining in the tragedy.
Instead, support should focus on the surviving child and the grieving parents, offering practical help or a simple expression of sympathy. For staff, this means adjusting communication to honor the lost child, perhaps by using the baby’s name if the parents have shared it. The symbol encourages everyone to recognize that the family is going through a mixed emotional experience, needing both space for their sorrow and congratulations for their surviving infant. Meaningful support is often quiet respect for the family’s privacy and acknowledgment of their dual reality.