Last summer, when Kristin Naylor was one week out from a scheduled cesarean section to deliver her third child, she went for a routine visit with her obstetrician and was told there was no longer a heartbeat. Hours later, Naylor delivered a stillborn daughter, Abby.
A few months before she was due, Naylor had reached out to Pennsylvania-based documentary photographer Meg Brock , a friend of a friend, to see if she were free to take some family photos after the babys birth. Brock tracked Naylors pregnancy on Instagram and in late July saw the couples wrenching update. Naylor continued to post about her grief and about stillbirth, and eventually Brock reached out to see if she might be interested in doing a photo shoot to commemorate Abby.
In the 10 months since her daughter died, Naylor, 41, has developed a deep passion for ending the stigma and isolation that surround stillbirth, which takes roughly 24,000 babies each year in the United States. So she said yes. Here, in her own words, is a bit of her story.
Captions have been edited and condensed.
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