Pain into purpose: Hartselle couple turns personal tragedy into nonprofit
What was meant to be a joyful day for Julie and Maguire Pope became one of unimaginable heartbreak. On Oct. 3, 2024, the Hartselle couple was preparing to welcome their second daughter, Bailey Spring Pope, into the world. At 38 weeks pregnant, with no warning or explanation, Julie delivered Bailey stillborn.
Maguire and Julie Pope cradle their daughter Bailey Spring after she was stillborn in October 2024. The couple have turned their personal tragedy into a nonprofit organization called Bailey’s Blankies that provides baby blankets for families facing infant loss. Courtesy photo.
“A few hours later, we finally got to hold the most beautiful angel we’d ever seen,” Julie Pope said. “She had a head full of hair, blue eyes, giant hands – and we will long for her every day until we see her again.” In the depths of their grief, the Popes found comfort in the smallest things – especially the soft blankets they had packed for what they thought would be Bailey’s first newborn photos. Those blankets became a lasting connection to their daughter and the brief time they spent with her. Six months later, the couple has transformed their pain into purpose through Bailey’s Blankies, a project dedicated to providing soft blankets and matching headbands or hats to families who experience stillbirth.
“Our hope is to provide these gifts as something beautiful and soft that families can use to wrap up their precious babies for photos, to cuddle and to take home,” Julie Pope said. “There is truly nothing more valuable to me than the things I know touched Bailey, even just for a few hours.” Bailey’s Blankies works with hospitals to ensure that grieving families – many of whom arrive unprepared for such an unimaginable loss – have something tangible to hold onto in their time of sorrow.
The Popes invite others to join them in keeping Bailey’s memory alive by supporting the project in several ways. Community members can order a Bailey’s Blankies 10-pack to be delivered to hospitals or purchase a T-shirt to help raise awareness through the project’s website at www. agreatbaby.com/pages/BaileysBlankies. Financial contributions can also be made via Venmo @BaileysBlankies, with all proceeds going directly toward reaching more families.
