DES MOINES, Iowa — A pair of rainbow wings will stand tall on display in of Blank Children's Hospital for the month of April.
The names scrawled in white may seem random to passerby, but for many families, this installment is a visible reminder of the love remaining for lost pregnancies and infants.
"We had these set of wings that had our angels names on it, and No Foot Too Small's mission, part of the mission, is to celebrate angels," said Alison Maahs, director of family support. "So, it's a way that their names can be displayed very publicly in a very beautiful and meaningful way."
No Foot Too Small is an organization that aims to draw awareness to pregnancy loss and infant mortality.
The angel wings installment, which was created over the pandemic, has made its way across Iowa.
"What I could have never anticipated are the amount of families that stop by wherever they're at, just to take a picture," Maahs said. "And when I say families, it could be the lost parents, but it's aunts [and] uncles, it's friends saying, 'Hey, I saw your baby's name today.'"
And Maahs believes that attention is brings awareness to a cause that is still considered taboo, despite infant and pregnancy loss affecting one in four families in the U.S.
"It's a conversation starter and a piece that helps change that dialogue ..." she said. "Everybody's grief is very different. But again, opening the dialogue, I think, allows people to find better support."
Blank Children's Hospital employee Lisa Bryant has a special connection to the project.
"I have two angels up there," she said. "So, I was brought to No Foot Too Small because of the losses that we had."
When she saw the wings pictured in a hospital-wide newsletter, Bryant sent a message of thankfulness and support for the visibility the project gives for grieving families.
"I'm just so honored that my work is able to do this and to sponsor it and we'll be able to have these wings here," Bryant said. "And then there was just like such an outpour of people that like were like, 'I saw them too. And I thought of you immediately.'"
The wings will move to Principal Park on April 29 for the organization's Angels in the Outfield game, a charity baseball event meant to spread the word even further.
"That's what's neat to see: it gives other people a way to support and say 'I see you, I see your babies. They're not forgotten,'" Bryant said.
► Download the We Are Iowa app
► Sign up for Local 5's "5 Things to Know" email newsletter
► Subscribe to Local 5 News on YouTube