How infant inspired mum to start Briar Blooms Boutique in Sunshine Coast

Briar Hill lived for just five minutes and her existence changed the course of her mum’s life with a Caloundra business blooming in her memory.

Briar Hill lived for just five minutes after her birth but her short existence has changed the course of her mother’s life.

Mum Domica Hill said her daughter had complications that were picked up in a 12-week scan.

She was measuring small and the Hills initially hoped the technology was wrong.

Briar’s growth was assessed by specialists at the Monash Medical Centre who also found other complications and she was born in June, 2020, at 24 weeks, during the Covid-19 pandemic and rolling lockdowns in Melbourne.

It was Briar’s grandmother who first held her, gazing at her features and size.

Mrs Hill asked her mum how her baby, who measured the size of a 15-week gestation, looked.

“My mum said she looked perfect,” Mrs Hill said.

Domica Hill has opened Briar Blooms Boutique in her daughter's honour. Picture: Patrick Woods.

The first-time mother, 32, and husband Jarrod spent a precious night with their daughter in a hospital room, comparing features to see who she looked more like and holding her.

Following the Hills’ experience, many people gave the grieving couple flowers.

“It was just a shame to see them wilt away,” Mrs Hill said.

“We had nothing to keep, every little thing that happens, everything that happened in regard to her we wanted to hold on to.”

Briar Blooms Boutique specialises in dried flower arrangements. Picture: Patrick Woods.

This experience prompted Mrs Hill, who is also an artist, to start Briar Blooms Boutique in Caloundra, which specialises in dried flower arrangements.

The couple moved to the Sunshine Coast from Melbourne in December, 2021.

Mrs Hill – a Palawa Tasmanian woman on her mother’s side – opened the shopfront in Bulcock St on October 15, 2022, coincidentally on Pregnancy and Infant Loss Remembrance Day.

Briar Blooms Boutique stocks homewares, clothing and more. Picture: Patrick Woods.

Formally a PE teacher, Mrs Hill started painting more following her daughter’s death.

“I had met with elders and Aboriginal artists and mob and did a lot of research and started practising more after it happened,” she said.

The first artwork she did following Briar’s death hangs on a friend’s wall and is called Passing Through.

“It depicts that we are all visitors in this place,” the artist said.

Homewares, clothing, jewellery and more are also for sale.

The couple has a son, Jyka, who is now one.

Domica Hill, pictured with her son Jyka, displays her artwork at her store that opened on October 15, 2022. Photo: Patrick Woods.

After Mr and Mrs Hill sent their and Briar’s DNA to Finland for analysis they found out a few weeks ago they both carry the same rare chromosomal abnormality that will cause one in four of their births to be like Briar’s.

“Not many people are carrying this,” Mrs Hill said.

“It’s really, really rare, and the fact we found each other is rare.”

Originally published as How infant inspired mum to start Briar Blooms Boutique in Sunshine Coast