I personally have never experienced the loss of a baby and I hope I never do. However I know people including my own mother, who has experienced this.
The death of a baby is often unpredictable and no one is to blame.
There are 5 types of infant deaths such as;
Stillbirth = A baby that has died in the womb after having survived through at least 28 weeks of pregnancy.
Neonatal Death = The death of a baby within the first 28 days of life.
Miscarriage = The loss of a foetus before having the chance to survive.
Serious Abnormalities or Illness = When the baby has no chance of survival due to illness.
Cot Death = The unexplained death of a baby during sleep.
The healing process is difficult for an parent but holding the baby in your arms can bring a little comfort, it often creates a memory of time spent with the child.
Memories however sometimes fade over time so by capturing a tender yet heartfelt moment on camera can provide a visual reminder that parents can keep forever.
And that is why I decided to interview a registered charity called "Remember My Baby" who help comfort parents by taking photographs of the baby who is no longer with them.
Name:
Remember My Baby
Are you a charity or a profitable business?It's a Registered Charity rather than a business, we are not a commercial concern - Remember My Baby
When was "Remember My Baby" established?
We were launched in August 2014 and gained charity status in December in England & Wales, and February 2015 in Scotland.
Why did you decide to establish "Remember My Baby"?
Some of the co-founders have suffered a loss of their own or been touched by the loss of someone close to them - the footprints in our logo belong to the stillborn daughter of one of the co-founders. Photographs have been increasingly recognised as beneficial to grieving parents, along with hand and footprints. RMB's growing network of Volunteer Photographers increases the number of parents having the choice of remembrance photography - our goal is for all parents to be offered this choice on the loss of their baby.
How do you raise funds?
We are very fortunate that many parents who have benefited from our service donate and/or raise funds. We launched a JustGiving campaign to raise funds for our special RMB USB memory sticks, on which we load parents' images and send to them. We set a target of £1000 in a year, but reached more than double that in just over two weeks! People really want to help.
Social Media
https://m.facebook.com/remember my baby/
Just Giving
https://www.justgiving.com/remember-mybaby
Website
http://www.remembermybaby.org.uk/
The Board of Trustees for Remember My Baby are as follows;
Cheryl Johnson, Chair & Mat Co-ordinator
Nicky Heppenstall, Vice Chair & Bereavement Liaison Officer
Alison Bryan, Treasurer
Michele Selvey, Membership Secretary
Ruth Trotter, NHS Liaison
Heidi Fuentes, Web Administrator
Anna Marina, Public Relations & Fundraising Co-ordinator
Jocelyn Conway, Recruitment Co-ordinator
Sponsors of Remember My Baby are as follows;
Zenfolia, Life After Loss, Premier Print & Design, Esperi, Print Foundry, SprinterZ, Doula UK, Pro Am Imaging, The National Photographic Society, The Newborn Photography Show, MTA Photo Albums, One Vision Imaging, Digita Lab, The Societies of Photography, Sim Imaging, The Guild of Photographers and SkyParlour.
Remember My Baby (RMB) is a UK based organisation. The service offers to take "baby remembrance photography" to UK parents who have sadly lost their baby before, during or after birth. They were established 18 August 2014 by a team of UK professional photographers. Many of the team members have personally experienced the loss of a baby. They can apply for grant awards, gift-aid plus other funding and this is because they are a registered charity.
This is a FREE service however people can makeca donation if they wish to.
The photographs taken provide the parent(s) and loved ones with hope to deal with their grief and precious memories that will last a lifetime. The photographs are presented to the parent(s) in the form if a disc or a USB memory stick which means the photographs can be printed at home, a chemist or a photography shop.
Remember My Baby is inviting Bereavement Midwives and Specialists to contact them with their details which will then be added to the database.
As with an application for work, paid or voluntary, any professional photographer wanting to join Remember My Baby will be assessed on their photography skills. Anyone that would like to become a Volunteer Photographer's Assistant must apply through Remember My Baby, this is due to confidentiality. Remember My Baby does not charge for those being assessed although there is a membership fee at a cost of £15.00 This cost has a gift-aid attached which increases the benefit, financially to Remember My Baby. The £15.00 is used to pay for domain names, insurance and the basic daily running of the charity. As a Remember My Baby member you will be given access to support and guidance. Remember My Baby is currently in the process of developing "training for members" which will take place via workshops around the UK.
If you are or know of a business/company that would like to sponsor Remember My Baby please contact their email at info@remembermybaby.org.uk
If you are a professional photographer you should be aware that it is against the Volunteer Service Agreement and the Code of Conduct to advertise your own personal business through Remember My Baby.
The goal of Remember My Baby is for every hospital and birth centre in the UK to have access to at least one Remember My Baby photographer.
If you wish to gain further information on the service provided by the photographers, please email info@remembermybaby.org.uk
The following was taken from http://dying.lovetoknow.com/Poems_for_Infant_Loss
I dreamed a little dream,
Once upon a time.
I dreamed we'd be together one day,
Sweet little baby of mine.
Sadly that dream was not meant to be,
And it's very difficult to know,
That now you won't be coming to me.
You weren't strong enough to thrive and grow,
But I know that you're in heaven now
And that's a very good place to be.
And I know that when I get there,
I'll recognize you, and you'll know me.
We'll get to share the love we would
Have shared here on this earth.
And then we'll know without a doubt
What all this waiting was worth.
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