Unbearably sad photo shoot about how a family nurses a dead daughter who has lived only an hour

Grieving parents from the UK shared a very sad family photo shoot with their newborn daughter, who died just an hour after birth. The girl's mother Hayley Rice said that the photos were taken two days after Sydney's death and greatly helped them cope with the loss.

In the pictures, she and her husband Kevin Martin hold their tiny baby in their arms, and in other photos with their sister, their eldest daughters, 15-year-old Charlie and 11-year-old Frankie, are depicted.

(14 photos in total)

Source: Daily Mail

The photo shoot caused controversy between people who believe that such photos are unacceptable, and people who were sympathetic to the grief and the way this family survived it. "Some people think it's a little creepy, but if you've been through something like this, you'll appreciate it," says Hayley Rice.

Sydney suffered from a chromosomal disease — Edwards syndrome, which was diagnosed during a scan at the 20th week of pregnancy. Hayley and Kevin were preparing for the worst, but, as they themselves admit, the loss was still very painful for them.

"We did not plan to have a baby, but in August last year I found out that I was pregnant, it was a joyful surprise. We were in shock, and we had to get used to this idea, but it was a pleasant surprise, and we were very happy and excited. I have two daughters from a previous marriage, Kevin also has a daughter Megan, she is 11 years old. It was our first child together, and we were looking forward to his birth," says Hayley.

"When I went for a scan at the 12th week, a problem was discovered, and the doctors thought it was a problem with the intestines. We were told that the baby would need to be delivered prematurely and have surgery shortly after birth, but otherwise everything was fine with him," the woman says.

When Hayley and Kevin came for a scan at the 20th week, doctors found other problems in the development of little Sydney. "The second scan showed that everything is much worse there than the doctors initially assumed. I had an amniocentesis, and two days later the results of the analysis showed that the child has Edwards syndrome."

"The consultant said that Sydney is not viable. When I heard that, I was shocked. The entire staff of the clinic treated us wonderfully, but this phrase was quite scary and deeply stuck in my head. Every time we went for a scan, Sydney grew and developed, and we still hoped for the best. But deep down we knew that she wouldn't live long, and we wanted to spend time with her, holding her in our arms and giving her love, and not look at her all in wires and tubes in the intensive care incubator, not being able to touch her. Therefore, we decided to limit ourselves to palliative care and not resort to invasive treatment," says the mother.

Sydney was born on April 11, 2016 at 22:07, on her father's birthday. Hayley was 37 weeks pregnant, and the birth was induced artificially. The girl died just an hour after birth. Kevin, Hayley and her daughters spent two days with her, and then the midwife told them about the charity organization Remember My Baby ("Remember my Baby"). A team of volunteer photographers travels around the UK and visits families who have lost a baby before, during or shortly after giving birth. "Since we were preparing for the worst, we took a lot of photos ourselves, but we really liked the idea of a good professional photography. When we got the pictures four weeks later, it really helped us," explains Hayley.

The woman added: "At this moment you may not understand it and you may not want to look at it right away, but after a couple of months you will want to see these photos — this is the only memory we have left. Being with Sydney for at least an hour is more than we could have dreamed of, and I am very grateful that we have these beautiful photos as a keepsake."