Cradling their newborns with their faces filled with love, these pictures capture heartbroken parents' final moments with their babies.

The images were taken by the organisation Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep, who say they create the treasured memories by sending photographers to meet devastated parents and their terminally ill babies in hospital.

The service has boomed in popularity since launching in the USA ten years ago and boasts 1,650 volunteers in 40 countries across the globe, who offer their services via the organisation's website.

Describing their mission on their website, the organisation writes: 'Our mission is to introduce remembrance photography to parents suffering the loss of a baby with a free gift of professional portraiture.'

The organisation trains, educates and organises for professional photographers to provide what they describe as 'beautiful heirloom portraits' to families facing the untimely death of an infant.

'We believe these images serve as an important step in the family’s healing process by honoring the child’s legacy,' they say.

The organisation was founded by Cheryl Haggard, who had to make the excruciating decision to take her newborn son, Maddux Achilles Haggard, off life support in 2005.

Maddux was born with a condition called myotubular myopathy, which prevented him from breathing, swallowing or moving on his own.

Before doing so, they called photographer Sandy Puc to take pictures of them cradling their son, including some when he had been taken off life support, when, they say, 'he was free from the tubes and the wires that had sustained him'.

Cheryl said: 'That night was the worst night of my life. But when I look at the images, I am not reminded of my worst night. I’m reminded of the beauty and blessings he brought.'

She realised that those tender photographs documented Maddux's 'eternal connnection' with his parents and inspired her to launch a non-profit organisation to give other grieving parents the same experience.

Named after the children's bedtime prayer, Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep provides families of babies who are stillborn or extremely ill newborns with free professional portraits.

They said about the service: 'Photographs are one of the most precious and tangible mementos that a parent can have, showing the love and bond that was given and shared with their baby.

'These portraits will last for generations, and will honor and remember a tiny life that is forever loved and cherished.'

In one testimonial on their website, a couple explained how their final family portrait helped them grieve.

'On Saturday March 17, 2012 around 10:45 am, we said hello and good-bye to our beloved son.

'It is shocking to know that he is physically no longer with us. Yet we are glad that your organization exists and was able to provide us a lifetime of memories through the baby pictures taken of him.

'We are so grateful and thank God that we have these pictures to forever treasure our baby angel. May God continue to bless you as you bless and help families through their difficult time.'