A fund to benefit parents of babies in neonatal intensive care units with comfort items and support.
In late Nov 99, I gave birth to twins at Swedish Medical Center here in Denver. My daughter had multiple birth defects and was transfered to PSL and then Children's for a series of surgeries. I lost Madison on January 10, 2000. Just ten days after open heart surgery and after spending 44 days in the NICU. During her time in the hospital, I took few pictures of her. Mostly because it either felt awkward taking pictures in the NICU, or I thought I would wait "until" she was taken off another piece of equipment so that we could see her beautiful face.
Not taking pictures of her has been my biggest regret.
I have now formed "Madi's Angel Project", a fund to help other parents with children in the NICU.
Most families in the NICU are there emergently and either do not bring cameras or feel as though they shouldn't be taking pictures of their baby in this type of situation. Most of the pictures I do have of Madison are Polaroids taken by nurses, which I am grateful to have, but they will be the only blurry images I will have of her. By supplying cameras at the babies' bedside, it encourages picture taking by the parents and provides the nursing staff the ability to take pictures of the infant's progress when the parents cannot be there at their baby's bedside.
When a critical baby passes away in the NICU, the parents will want to keep everything from their baby's stay as a memory. Each and every picture becomes a keepsake and a memory that parents will want to hold onto forever.
Hospitals are currently supplied with Polaroid cameras to take pictures of babies for families. Although it does provide instant gratification, the quality and longevity of the picture is poor. Also, the parents are told before leaving the hospital to make sure to get their Polaroids copied within two weeks or they will start to darken or fade.
No family should be placed in the situation of going to the store during their time of grief to copy blurry Polaroid photos of their deceased baby. The act is heart breaking for the parents and the quality of the copied Polaroid photo is very poor. By supplying the NICU with cameras, the family can have the film developed later and however they like.
Vision: All parents with an infant in the hospital setting needs some type of support, whether it comes from their own family, friends or even hospital nursing staff. The goal of this project is to make a small supportive contribution in the life of a child in the NICU.
The first hospital to pilot this project is Swedish Medical Center in Englewood, Colorado. Since May 2000, Madi's project has donated over 270 cameras to this NICU. Since October, 2000, Littleton Adventist Hospital in Littleton, Colorado has received 100 cameras. Thank you sponsors!
This project has been sponsored by the Colorado Non-profit Development Center As a non profit (501c3) project, I can now approach local corporations for consistant donations and provide a tax benefit for the sponsorships I receive.
