From the Heart of a Parent - Bereavement Photography for Grieving NICU Parents

A very special group of volunteer photographers help provide a priceless gift to grieving NICU parents, that of documenting their baby's brief life through something called Bereavement Photography.

In this video clip bereaved parents share their experiences with infant loss and with benefiting from the donated services of the NILMDTS (Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep) remembrance photographers.




About Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation
The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of almost 7,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and twenty-five countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session.

The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.

More:
Dyer K. 2008. Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (Bereavement Photography) on NBC's Today Show. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer K. 2007-8. Bereavement Photography. Squidoo.com

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (Bereavement Photography) on NBC's Today Show

The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation is there for parents and families to help aid them in their Healing, bring Hope to their future, and Honor to their child.

It is through Remembrance that a family can truly begin to heal.

NILMDTS Foundation

In March 2008, the Today Show featured an episode on Bereavement Photography, photographing the end of a newborn's or child's life.

Learn more about these very special photographers who are able to bring comfort to parents at the end of a child's life by taking permanent reminders of a life.

About Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation
The Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation (NILMDTS) administers a network of almost 7,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and twenty-five countries. At a family's request, a NILMDTS Affiliated Photographer will come to your hospital or hospice location and conduct a sensitive and private portrait session.

The portraits are then professionally retouched and presented to the families on an archival DVD or CD that can be used to print portraits of their cherished baby.

You can find out more about Bereavement Photography at the Squidoo Lens that I developed on the subject.

More:
Dyer K. 2007-8. Bereavement Photography. Squidoo.com

Creating Memories of a Dying Baby For Parents Through Photography

The images serve as touchstones for feelings and memories pertaining to deep significant relationships and spiritual connections some of which may flourish in the intimacy of the last days or months of life.

Todd Hochberg

Bereavement Photography
To those unfamiliar with the topic, Bereavement Photography may seem a bit unusual to say the least.

For the parents who have been the recipients of the photographic memories captured by volunteer photographers, bereavement photography is a priceless gift, documenting the often all to brief life of their baby.

The Healing Benefits of Bereavement Photography
There is a strong healing aspect to bereavement photograph. Todd Hochberg of Touching Souls shares how photographs help parents with their grieving process in an article originally published in Share.

Photographs help NICU parents by:

1. Making their baby's life and death real for the parents. Making the life real is a significant issue with brief perinatal lives.
2. Validating the parents feelings, both at the time of their baby's death and up to the present.
3. Being an affirmation of parenthood, a reminder that there was a child that they were a parent to.
4. Providing a tangible record of their time with their baby. The photographs often include cherished close up details of their baby's physical features and evidence of loving familial bonds.
5. Allowing them to connect with the many feelings and memories that may have gotten lost in the torrent of overwhelming grief at the time or in the weeks since.

Todd feels that offering parents an illustrated narrative of "their story" for themselves and the loved ones they choose to share it with, helps to fostering greater social support and connection, which also aids in the grieving process.

Photographers Offering Bereavement Photography Services

Touching Souls - Healing with Bereavement Photography
Photographer Todd Hochberg of Touching Souls has supported parents experiencing perinatal loss, as they say goodbye to their babies, since 1997. The photographs of babies with their grieving parents are available as valuable emotional mementos for families in Chicago.

Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS)
Now I lay Me Down To Sleep (NILMDTS) is a non-profit organization devoted to offering gentle and beautiful photography and videography services. Their services are available to all parents experiencing the death of a baby. There are no fees for creating these photographic memories.

I Say My Prayers

I Say My Prayers involves taking pictures of terminally ill children, individually and/or with their families. The child may be a newborn who will never leave the hospital or it may be a teenager. I will capture the "spirit" and the "life" of the child for the families to hold on to forever. The sitting and the pictures are donated by me to the families.

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Bereavement Photography helps to ease the parents grief by creating memories that will last a lifetime for these grieving parents. The photographs help them to hold on to memories and document the life of their baby.

Resources:
Dyer K. 2007-8. Bereavement Photography. Squidoo.com
Hochberg T. In Your Eyes; The Caregiver and Bereavement Photography. Share. 2003.

Image: Nic Luc. Old Photo Lens. Royalty Free Use.