The Heartbreaking Meaning Behind Purple Butterfly Stickers Next to Newborns

If you’re a new mom or recently visited someone who just welcomed a baby, and noticed an isolated bassinet or crib with a purple butterfly sticker inside, it probably caught your attention. Much like the puzzle piece representing autism or the pink ribbon for breast cancer, the purple butterfly carries its own powerful meaning, one that’s worth knowing.

This small sticker placed next to a newborn signifies something very emotional, and understanding its importance can help you recognize the difficult journey that the baby's parents, or the parents of that empty crib, are going through. Here’s what it means and how it’s grown to become a symbol recognized globally.

The purple butterfly sticker placed next to a newborn or in an empty bassinet honors the loss of a baby from a multiple pregnancy who didn’t survive. It’s often used alongside a poster explaining its meaning, typically displayed around maternity and neonatal units. The symbol may also represent multiple losses, especially in cases where a mother was expecting twins, triplets, or more.

For example, a mom who delivered twins, where only one survived, might place the purple butterfly sticker next to the surviving baby or in a separate crib to honor the one who passed. It’s a quiet but powerful way to signal to others that the family is navigating a painful loss. It also helps prevent well-intended but painful comments, as people often assume that families in a maternity unit are only experiencing happy moments.

The purple butterfly sticker isn’t just about raising awareness; it’s also part of a greater mission to provide support to families as they cope with such a heartbreaking experience.

Now that you know what the purple butterfly sticker means when placed next to a newborn, your next question is probably: How did it get started? It was actually created by a mother named Millie Cann, who experienced a devastating loss after giving birth to her twins around 2016.

Her babies were born at 30 weeks, but sadly, one of them, Skye, passed away just three hours after birth. Skye had been diagnosed with anencephaly, a severe birth defect where a baby is born missing parts of the skull and brain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

In a TikTok post, Millie shared that after going through such a heartbreaking experience, she dedicated her maternity leave to creating the Skye High Foundation. Her goal was to support other families navigating the same kind of loss by providing bereavement support and access to clinical resources. She also wanted those families to have the privacy, and also the quiet recognition, they deserved, without having to explain themselves or receive comments that made it all harder to process.

Since Millie’s loss and the launch of the Skye High Foundation, the initiative has grown tremendously. In 2020, the foundation received charity status in the U.K. By 2024, they had formed a board of directors in the U.S., and in 2025, they officially launched their ambassador program. According to the foundation’s website, the purple butterfly sticker is now incorporated into every neonatal unit across the U.K., and its reach continues to grow elsewhere.