Photos Help Grieving Parents with Healing

Parents who are healing from the loss of an infant face unspeakable grief and a difficult road to recovery.

During this period of sadness, the Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep Foundation seeks to help mothers and fathers memorialize their lost child through a final heirloom photo.

The foundation operates a network of nearly 7,000 photographers in the U.S. and 25 other countries who visit a hospital or hospice at a family's request.

For no charge, they will conduct a sensitive and private portrait session and present the parents with professional pictures. The foundation says this process helps families honor and cherish the spirit of their babies' lives.

Michelle Mirabito of West Haven, Connecticut told the New Haven Register that the photos of her infant son James, who died a few days after his birth, will be displayed next to pictures of her two living daughters.

"The thing me and my husband believe is that every life has a purpose and James' purpose was to bring us all together," she explained. "'We're all so much closer now. That's what one life can do."