Celebrating a rainbow baby | Nashville family photographer

“Rainbow baby” is a name that you may or may not know.  If the term is new to you, it refers to a baby born after a family experiences the loss of a child (whether through miscarriage, stillbirth, etc).  I’ve walked alongside friends as they grieved this type of unthinkable loss.  There does seem to be a shift in being able to talk about it in public, though, which is so helpful for those families.  A few years ago (and definitely decades ago), it most likely would have been a silent, lonely suffering.  To have to pretend like they didn’t experience what they did… surely that would compound the pain.  Being in the job I am documenting families, I have become intimately aware of some heartbreaking circumstances.

At a recent session, the mama asked me if we could find some ways to honor their loss and celebrate their newest little one.  She was game for any idea I threw at her, so we opted to try several different things, which you will see below.  Obviously rainbows are key, but I wanted to play with a softer version than the primary colors.  I found this dreamy baby blanket, and we were able to use it in an obvious rainbow shape and then also just fluffed around baby while she sat in a decorative bowl I had.  I asked my client’s permission to share these photos with you because I wanted other families to see that there are beautiful ways to remember a baby while celebrating a new one.  All children, whether they were ever in your arms or not, are special and worthy of recognition.

This was the final idea.  I thought about trying to draw this myself, but it seemed a bit risky/easy to smudge (and let’s be honest, I’m not that good at drawing).  I instead photographed a blank chalkboard and then added in the graphic in Photoshop.