Mothers pose with their rainbow babies in emotional photo shoot

A rainbow baby is a baby born after a miscarriage or loss

Mothers partake in a rainbow photo shoot with their rainbow babies (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

A photographer has shared heartwarming photos she took of mothers dressed in rainbow-colour gowns posing with their “rainbow babies”.

Ashley Sargent from Alabama was inspired to do the photo shoot of mothers and their rainbow babies, which are babies born after a miscarriage or loss, after she struggled herself to get pregnant.

According to Sargent, she came up with the idea for the rainbow photo shoot after an image she shared of a rainbow baby captured the attention of other mothers.

“There were so many mothers commenting that it inspired me for this idea,” she said of the project. “I began to have this idea (or vision, I should say)... of seeing dozens upon dozens of mothers coming together, all as one, dressed in colours of the rainbow along with their miracle child.”

For the shoot, Sargent had the 40 mothers and their children of all ages dress in their favourite shade of the rainbow.

The women brought their rainbow babies of all ages (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

The women also held balloons meant to symbolise the babies they lost, which they released as part of the emotional experience.

Each woman also shared their individual stories (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

In addition to participating in the photo shoot, Sargent asked each of the mothers share their stories, which are captioned alongside individual photos of each of the participants.

The mothers let balloons representing their losses go (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

Since sharing the photos, Sargent, who said the photo shoot was about “spreading hope to others”, has received dozens of comments thanking her for the emotional tribute.

The women all gave birth to rainbow babies (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

The photos have resonated with other mothers who have rainbow babies (Ashley Sargent Photography LLC)

“What beautiful pictures, such an awesome tribute to life! Thank you for sharing,” one woman commented.

Another said: “How wonderful! I also have a rainbow baby and this is absolutely beautiful.”

The photo shoot has also positively impacted the women who were involved. Speaking to The Independent, Sargent said: "I think [the mothers] all feel grateful for an opportunity to express their love for their children that were lost. One mum said to me that ‘it feels like once you have a miscarriage, you’re expected to move on and forget about it, but you never forget your own child’".

Recently, another mum involved in the shoot thanked Sargent for the opportunity, as it helped another mother discuss her previous loss. The mum told Sargent: "‘She has talked more about it than she ever has, and I wanted to thank you for that! This isn’t only helping other mums out there, it’s helping your rainbow mamas too."