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Local Moms bare their bumps for charity
LAUNCH EVENT 11/22/08
Pick up your calendars in time for Christmas...
It's a heart wrenching issue to talk about when a parent has to face the loss of a child. The month of October is recognized as Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Month since President Ronald Reagan enacted Proclamation 5890 in October of 1988. The act recognizes that each year, approximately a million pregnancies in the United States alone end in miscarriage, stillbirth, or the death of a newborn child. To support awareness, a group of Charlotte based Moms and babies have come together to create a calendar in support of the charity Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep. The charity NILMDTS offers grieving parents a chance to heal with the precious last memories of their infants who unexpectedly won't celebrate a full life with their families. Specializing in infant bereavement photography, NILMDTS is a national voluntary based organization made up of dedicated photographers who give of their time and resources freely. Parents are given a way to heal with the priceless gift of capturing their baby’s last moments and a keepsake of their final memories. Without a keepsake, memories fade and we soon forget the uniqueness of a child’s features – their tiny hands and feet, their little ears and nose. Now there is a way to grieve the memory of the journey and the feelings that are needed for the healing process. Charlotte based photographic artist and affiliated photographer for NILMDTS , Mimika Cooney of Photo Lyrical Photography, along with local Charlotte moms and babies have put together a fine art calendar in support of the charity and to help raise awareness of the organization. Back in March an excited group of pregnant Moms lent their time to capture some gorgeous images for Photo Lyrical’s 2009 15 month calendar. Over the past 6 months, this dedicated group of Moms has brought in their newborn babies to be photographed for the calendar as each of them was born. The idea was to give Moms the opportunity to feel like Hollywood stars with the full make-up and hair treatment provided by Chris Lanston, renown make-up artist. As a specialist maternity and baby photographer, Mimika has the honor everyday of capturing a family’s precious memories of their baby. She says: "With all the joy and happiness I get from photographing healthy babies, I feel it’s a privilege and a duty to share my talent with parents who are experiencing sadness and grief at their loss of a child. I can’t imagine how heart wrenching it is to say goodbye to this precious baby that you’ve nurtured for so long. I feel it is so important to document this precious person who was loved by their family and who was given a special name. They were real and although they were here for just a short time, they deserve to be remembered with sensitivity and love. This is a vitally important part in helping parents heal." The nonprofit organization Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep has introduced bereavement photography nationwide to parents suffering the loss of a baby to help them in their healing journey. NILMDTS administers a network of more than 5,000 volunteer photographers in the United States and 19 international 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 with soothing background music and portraits of you and your loved one, and also a CD that can be used to print portraits of the cherished baby. For Editors:
How to Purchase your Calendars – Only donations made out to NILMDTS accepted Copies of the calendar priced at $15 each can be purchased from these participating Charlotte businesses. All profits will be donated to NILMDTS: Photo Lyrical Photography
- Call 1.888.344.0894 for appointment availability.
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©2003-2007 Mimika Cooney
Professional Wedding Photographer
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