When a baby is born at the NICU or passed away during the course of treatment, special garments called angel gowns offer families a little comfort in this difficult time. The gowns are made from repurposed wedding dresses and are offered to grieving families for photos, memorial services or to hold their little ones close to their hearts. Several community organizations are involved with the angel gown process and work tirelessly to ensure that those who have lost an infant can honor their child in a way that will bring peace and comfort.
Hot Springs Village resident Colleen Angel, or Grandma Angel, spends her retirement days transforming donated wedding dresses into tiny angel gowns for hospitals across the country. She began making the gowns after her cousin lost a baby and she found that hospitals everywhere had a need for these special garments.
In her sewing room, she creates one-of-a-kind dresses in sizes fit for the tiniest of babies. She doesn’t let a single bead or scrap of lace go to waste and makes sure every baby is dressed in something unique. She can make up to 18 tiny angel gowns and wraps from one wedding dress.
For the last four years, she has also been donating a kit with the gown, blanket, two hats and heart-shaped keepsake pillow to bereavement groups, funeral homes or hospitals in the Akron area. These kits include everything the family would need to take a little bit of their baby home with them.
The NICU Helping Hands Angel Gown program accepts wedding and bridesmaid dresses in light shades of blue, pink or purple, and the organization keeps a waiting list for seamstresses to repurpose them into a burial gown for infants who have passed away. Besides the gowns, the organization also provides other items such as headbands, booties and caps, and has distributed them to local families.
Other similar programs exist around the United States. For example, the NICU Angel Gown program at University of Michigan Health-West partnered with Hillary’s Cherished Gowns to provide wedding dresses for grieving families. This program is run by volunteers and is dedicated to helping families through the loss of their newborns. The organization also provides a comfort box for each family, complete with diapers, wipes and a heart-shaped trinket.