Capturing Precious Memories: An Interview with Remember My Baby

At CuddleCot, we are deeply honored to share this interview with Remember My Baby (RMB), a charity that has been offering remembrance photography to bereaved families across the UK since 2014. Co-founded by eight women touched by baby loss, RMB provides a compassionate, complimentary service that helps families create lasting memories of their precious little ones. In this interview, we explore the charity’s mission, services, and the incredible impact their work has on families navigating the unimaginable grief of losing a baby. We are immensely grateful for all that RMB continues to do to support families through their most challenging moments.

Can you share the story behind the founding of your charity and what inspired you to create it?
Remember My Baby was created in August 2014 by eight women with a shared purpose. Predominantly professional photographers, and all touched by baby loss, the co-founders were acutely aware of the significance of capturing memories in this digital age for families for whom there would be no first smile, no first steps, no first birthday, no first day at school, and none of the other milestones so often taken for granted.

What are the core missions and goals of your organisation in supporting bereaved families?
Our mission is to offer professional standard, completely complimentary photography services to families navigating the profound loss of a baby, aiding them in their healing journey. To honour and cherish their baby’s short life, we collaborate closely with healthcare professionals to ensure our support is readily available to all families in need. Our aim is to be able to offer the service to 100% of UK parents experiencing the loss of their baby before, during or shortly after birth.

Could you highlight some of the most impactful programs and services you offer to families experiencing baby loss?
We offer one core service – the capturing and gifting of beautiful black and white images of baby and family. Our compassionate volunteer photographers visit families at hospitals and hospices to create sensitive family portraiture. 

What have been some of your most significant achievements or milestones since the charity’s inception?
We have recently reached our 10th Anniversary and shortly beforehand completed our 7,000th remembrance photography session. In the ten years that the charity has been in existence we have taken in excess of 200,000 images.

How do you ensure that your support services are accessible and effective for all bereaved parents?
Any health professional can contact us on behalf of a bereaved family to request that a photographer attends. Families themselves are also able to self-refer via an online request form linked to our website.

Can you discuss any recent projects or initiatives your charity is working on to further support families?
We are beginning to investigate the potential of using Saline Neonatal Immersion Photography techniques for possible inclusion in the future, but this is a new technique to the UK and clinical guidelines don’t currently exist. It can produce really good images of babies who are at the younger end of gestational age, and so may allow us to extend the service to below the current 20 weeks.

What are your future plans and visions for the charity over the next five years?
To expand our service and work with more hospitals and hospices across the UK. We currently work with around 45% of these, and so it would be great to have more expansive coverage. This will involve further increasing our volunteer force, which currently stands at just over 250, to ensure that we continue to meet our target of being able to service at least 90% of requests.

How can individuals and communities get involved in supporting your charity and its mission?
Many people believe that you need to be a professional photographer to volunteer for Remember My Baby. In fact, we have many volunteering roles available and only around 80% of our volunteer photographers are professionals – the rest are talented amateurs. As well as photographers we have volunteers who coordinate the incoming requests and allocate them to photographers, volunteers who support the welfare and wellbeing of others, and volunteers who do more background roles such as admin and fundraising support.

Many of our parents choose to fundraise for us to say thank you for the memories that we have provided. Some organise community events such as quizzes and football matches, whilst many others take part in events and challenges to raise funds.

Can you share a particular story or testimonial from a family who has been positively impacted by your charity’s work

This is a story from a bereaved mum:
Our beautiful baby girl was born sleeping at 38 weeks in Dundee, Scotland. It was unexpected and to say we were devastated is an understatement. We had no idea what to expect or what to do. The lovely midwives at the Tulip suite (a dedicated labour suite at Ninewells Hospital for baby loss) told us about Remember My Baby and arranged for a photographer to come out the next day.At the time I didn’t think much of it…photographs were the last thing on my mind…I just wanted my baby alive and well. However, I am so utterly thankful I have these photographs. They are so precious to us and keep Rae’s memory alive every single day. The lady who came was so loving, caring and respectful and put us both at ease. She asked questions about Rae and commented on her beautiful hair and cute Jemima puddle duck Babygro. She made her feel so real and like she mattered…even though she had passed away. I have these photos all around my house, I look at them every single day. They are beautiful and we are so thankful to RMB for the precious gift of memories and love they have given us.

It was an absolute honor for CuddleCot’s Bereavement Consultant and Relationship Manager, Siân Ness, to join the Remember My Baby podcast series, discussing the importance of remembrance photography for families who have experienced baby loss. 💙

In this powerful episode, Siân shares how Remember My Baby’s photography service supports both medical professionals and bereaved families, providing parents with precious memories of their little ones. She also highlights how the use of a CuddleCot allows families more time to create these lasting memories.

Listen to Episode 6 – Medical Professionals today on Spotify and Mixcloud (no sign-up required): 🎙

👉 https://remembermybaby.org.uk/news/remembering-our-babies-episode-6-medical-professionals/

Remember My Baby’s dedication to helping families preserve memories of their babies is truly inspiring. Their service has touched thousands of lives, providing bereaved families with a lasting tribute to the babies they’ve lost. As they continue to expand their reach and explore new techniques, RMB’s compassionate support remains a lifeline for so many parents across the UK. We encourage you to get involved, whether through volunteering or fundraising, to help RMB continue their invaluable work for grieving families.