OAW Session Qualifications & Process

On Angels’ Wings provides free therapeutic photography sessions for families whose child has a life limiting diagnosis from maternity to 18 years, or who lose a child at 20 weeks gestation+.

Locations Served

At this time, OAW serves families in the following areas:

  • The entire state of Missouri
  • Oklahoma City, OK
  • Tulsa, OK
  •  Minneapolis, MN
  • Central Illinois
  • Evansville, IN
  • NW Arkansas 

Qualification for Services

For the services OAW provides, qualifying children have an illness or congenital disorder that may put the child’s life at risk; limit the child’s life expectancy; and require medications, treatments and/or specialized care or equipment. These services are provided regardless of race, ethnicity, class status or orientation.

Services are provided from an in-utero diagnosis (maternity) to the child’s 18th year. Birth loss sessions are available from 20 weeks gestation and later. NICU milestone sessions are for children born at 32 weeks gestation or earlier who will face an extended NICU stay. More details below.

There are many different diagnoses that may qualify — if you’re uncertain, simply contact us. A doctor’s note or further documentation may be necessary to confirm diagnosis. Diagnoses that qualify (but this is not an exhaustive list) may include:

  • Leukemia and other pediatric cancers
  • Congenital Heart Defect
  • Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia
  • Trisomy (13 and 18 for certain, and 21 if an accompanying medical condition puts the child at risk) 
  • Triploidy and other chromosomal abnormalities/deletions that put the child’s life at risk
  • Anencephaly
  • Spinal Muscular Atrophy
  • Spina Bifida
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Limb Body Wall Syndrome
  • BPD / Chronic Lung Disease
  • CHARGE Syndrome
  • Epilepsies (that are life limiting)
  • Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy
  • Mitochondrial Disease
  • Turners Syndrome
  • NF-1
  • other genetic/chromosomal disorders or immunodeficiencies that put a child’s life at risk or may shorten a child’s lifespan.

We also provide photographs for children born at 32 weeks gestation or earlier to mark milestones while spending an extended time in the NICU, and for unexpected pregnancy loss 20 weeks into pregnancy and after. 

Submit your photo session request

Types of Sessions

Maternity & Delivery

If you’ve received an in-utero diagnosis during your pregnancy that puts your unborn child’s life at risk, OAW will provide Maternity pictures and during/immediately following delivery pictures free of charge. SEE EXAMPLES

Stillbirth

For those that present to labor and delivery only to hear the tragic words “there is no heartbeat,” the hospitals we work with will offer our services to you and a photographer will come within three hours of delivery for an Emergent Session to capture lasting images of your precious little one. These sessions are available for birth loss at 20 weeks gestation or later.
SEE EXAMPLES

NICU Milestone & Loss

For children born at 32 weeks gestation or earlier and who will have an extended stay in the NICU, On Angels’ Wings will provide a free photo session at or around the following milestones (pending hospital approval): within a couple weeks of delivery; when designated hold times begin; upon extubating and/or upon bottle/breastfeeding. Those that receive one of the previous sessions in the NICU are also eligible for a NICU graduation/celebration session when they get to go home (only if a previous session was provided during the NICU stay).

NICU sessions are also provided for any babies when there is an increased risk of loss due to an underlying medical diagnosis, such as a heart condition or genetic disorder. We also provide NICU loss sessions before or after life support is removed.

Journey Sessions

Journey sessions are provided for children who have a diagnosis/condition that causes them to be medically fragile, requiring ongoing treatments or medical equipment, frequent hospital stays/doctor visits, and/or isolation to avoid sickness. For these children, there is an increased possibility that they may not see adulthood. Sessions are provided annually, and prior to medical procedures that carry significant risk. We can provide sessions outdoors, in the hospital if admitted, in a studio or in your home, depending on your comfort level, desires and your child’s needs. 
SEE EXAMPLES

Rainbow Sessions

Exclusively for recipients that received pictures through OAW during or following the loss of a child, OAW also provides Rainbow Baby Sessions — free maternity and newborn pictures (within the first month following birth) for a recipient family’s first child born after loss. This service is also provided to Journey session recipient families for their Sunshine Baby, a younger sibling to a medically fragile child.
SEE EXAMPLES

How to Arrange Pictures

If you’re in the hospital for delivery or your child is in the NICU and qualifies, tell your nurse that you would like On Angels’ Wings to come in and provide pictures. Hospital staff will contact us to make arrangements. If you are delivering at a hospital in one of our services areas but one we are not yet partnered with, fill out the Session Request Form at least 3 weeks prior to your due date to make sure we can be at the hospital for your delivery.

If you need to schedule a session in advance (for outdoors, in a studio, in your home, maternity pictures, or in the hospital when a child is there for an extended period/on-going care), please fill out the Session Request Form on our website at least 3 weeks prior to desired session date. Our staff will then get availability from photographers in your service area and provide you with options. 

Once we’ve found a photographer whose schedule works with yours, we will connect the two of you (via joint text) to finalize the details of the session, such as time and location. 

What Happens During a Session

Our photographer will arrive at the designated time and location wearing a Volunteer Photographer badge so you know it’s her/him. Our photographers volunteer their time and talents, which we value and, therefore, ask no more than an hour of their time for the session (except under extreme circumstances such as a delivery). All photographers must go through an application, approval, and training process to make sure they can provide the high quality images our recipients deserve.

Our photographers are considerate and gentle with the circumstances your family is going through and will reflect that in the handling of your session. They may guide you to hold your child a certain way, or look at each other, etc. This guidance during the session will help them to give you the best possible images. 

A session release form is required for all sessions provided by On Angels’ Wings and must be completed by a parent/guardian for the qualifying child. Your form can be filled out up to 48 hours in advance, but must be filled out before you and the photographer part ways. Fortunately, you can fill out the Session Release Form right on our website.

Delivery of Pictures

Pictures are loaded to a password-protected online gallery. The gallery link and password are sent to the email address(es) provided on the Session Release Form within three weeks (21 days) following the date of the session. This provides enough time for the photographer to edit the pictures and for OAW to process the images and the gallery. 

Galleries are never closed and the images are never deleted. OAW keeps them indefinitely so that if you ever lose your copies, we can provide them to you again. 

Parents find solace in the photos we take, knowing these images capture the love and strength of their child’s journey. For many families, these photos are more than just pictures; they are cherished memories that acknowledge their child’s existence and impact. Our support goes beyond photography, offering a community of shared experiences and hope, making sure that no family feels alone in their journey.

We’re based in Springfield, Missouri, but we serve families across the entire state. If you’re in another part of Missouri, we’ll do our best to find a photographer for you. Please see our service areas above for additional out-of-state chapters available.

Part of the OAW Family

The services that On Angels’ Wings provides do not stop after images are delivered. A critical part of our offerings is ongoing support as recipients cope with the ongoing needs and unknowns of a medically fragile child or with grief following child loss. In addition to memorial gifts, community building opportunities, and events, On Angels’ Wings provides a dedicated Grief Recovery Program for all of it’s recipients free of charge. The dedicated 8-week program is available in some areas in-person, but to all recipients virtually. Recipients need not have lost a child to participate. Grief comes in all forms, and we also recognize the loss associated with having a medically fragile child. 

As a recipient, you are part of the OAW family, for the entirety of you and your child’s journey, however that looks. We are here for you through it all, working to build support and community around you.