During my career as a newborn photographer, I’ve had the pleasure of photographing hundreds of precious babies for parents who are over the moon with excitement. I feel blessed to have the opportunity to help families 
document the births of their babies, because I know they will continue to look upon the baby portraits for years to come, remembering how their children looked during those first days of life and re-living that sense of sheer joy that their babies brought and continue to bring to their lives.
For some families around the world, professional photographers like myself are also taking baby portraits of children whose lives were cut short. Thanks to an incredible organization called Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep (NILMDTS), families whose babies are stillborn or who die shortly after birth are provided with professional baby portraits in the hopes that the images will offer them some solace as they grieve the loss of their children.
Few of my clients know that I volunteer for NILMDTS, and although it goes without saying that this is the most challenging job I’ve ever been asked to do, I feel blessed to be able to give back to my community in such a meaningful way.
NILMDTS Brings Professional Photographers & Grieving Families Together
The idea for NILMDTS came about back in 2005, when parents, Michael and Cheryl Haggard, had to make the agonizing decision to take their young son, Maddux, off the machines that were keeping him alive. Before their son died, the Haggards asked photographer, Sandy Puc,’ to take baby portraits of Maddux. It was following this that Cheryl and Sandy decided to start NILMDTS, so that grieving families around the world could be connected with professional photographers and given baby portraits that might offer them some support during what would undoubtedly be the most difficult experience any parent would ever have to endure.
Since its inception, NILMDTS has grown to involve professional photographers throughout the United States and Canada, as well as in dozens of other countries around the world.
My Experience
Six years ago, I became a volunteer for NILMDTS. It was not too long after that I received my first call. The organization needed a photographer to take baby portraits for a grieving family at Lakeridge Hospital in Oshawa. I was overwhelmed with emotion and couldn’t find the strength to make the visit to the hospital. I had to pass it on to another one of the professional photographers who volunteer for NILMDTS.
It wasn’t until the fall of 2012 that I felt ready to take my first call as a NILMDTS volunteer. I visited Sick Kids’ Hospital where I took baby portraits of a beautiful boy who was born full-term but who was on life support. To say it was challenging would be an understatement, but knowing how important those images would be to the boy’s family while they grieved their loss was motivation enough to continue as a volunteer.
Since then, I’ve been back to Sick Kids’ and visited Mt. Sinai and Sunnybrook hospitals several times. I think any of the other professional photographers who volunteer for NILMDTS would agree that this is an opportunity unlike any other in a photographer’s career. I wish there was no need for NILMDTS to exist, but there is. Being a part of this organization is heartbreaking and difficult, but knowing that the baby portraits I provide are helping people and families in their darkest hours is what keeps me responding to the hospitals’ calls. In the future, I intend to continue giving back to my community through NILMDTS.
