Grayson Stone Dean was born still at Piedmont Henry Hospital in April of 2022. It was a very difficult time for parents Laken and Jordan Dean, made more challenging because they had planned for photos the next day. A nurse had mentioned a cenotaph cradle which is a temperature-controlled bassinet that allows parents to keep the baby with them as long as needed in the hospital. The cradle provides the gift of extra time to parents, giving them time to bond with their baby.
The hospital did not have one at the time, so Dean started raising funds to purchase one for Piedmont Henry and started a nonprofit, Grayson’s Footprints Foundation, to provide these cradles for other hospitals and offer support for families going through a similar situation. Recently, the foundation donated a cradle to Piedmont Fayette.
“From donating $10,000 worth of cradles, to assisting with burial and cremation costs, and sending Mother’s Day Cards to loss moms, we have grown tremendously since we donated our first cradle to Piedmont Henry last year,” said Dean. “We currently have around 3,000 followers on Grayson’s Footprints Foundation’s Instagram page. These are followers all over the world in multiple different countries that we have been able to provide support and resources for as well as a safe place online for loss families to connect and share their story. We are trying to reach more people, specifically in our own community, to be able to provide them with our services.”
Grayson’s Footprints Foundation has partnered with a small business owner that sells crochet materials. The group plans on donating a basket of clothing, hats, and blankets to the hospitals where they have donated cradles, so that the baskets are readily available to families that were not prepared to say goodbye to their baby.
“This is an incredibly generous and thoughtful gift,” said Tracie Delally, Director of Women’s Services at Piedmont Fayette. “It will hopefully bring some comfort to families in their time of need.”
While Grayson’s Footprints Foundation continues to raise funds for additional purchases, Dean is hoping to meet with other hospitals to discuss the importance of having these cradles for families that have experienced baby loss.
“Our goal is to persuade and educate hospitals on the cradle in hopes that every hospital will have at least one,” said Dean.
To learn more about Grayson’s Footprints Foundation or to donate to the organization, find them on Instagram or Facebook.
Piedmont is a not-for-profit healthcare system comprised of hospitals and services located in metro Atlanta communities. every patient who visits a Piedmont facility is touched by our donors whose support makes it possible to buy new equipment, improve facilities and expand research and education programs.
To learn more about the Piedmont Healthcare Foundation, visit piedmont.org/give.
