Whether a baby is born prematurely or passes away in the hospital after an illness, one thing that every grieving family has in common is the pain of losing their child. During this difficult time, a little bit of comfort can be offered in the form of a gown made from a wedding dress.
Angel gowns are a project that aims to provide a special keepsake for parents who lose a pregnancy or baby. The dresses are made from a repurposed wedding gown, and they are donated to NICUs around the country. In the last year alone, the program has donated between 300 and 500 gowns.
Each gown is lovingly transformed by a team of seamstresses, who are often mothers themselves. These volunteers help to ease the burden of a loss by offering families a gown that they can hold and cherish for a lifetime.
The organization, based in Texas, has a national reach and has expanded to include an international chapter as well. In the United States alone, 626,000 babies are stillborn each year, and it is estimated that there is one baby lost every minute.
For this reason, the organization has a very active volunteer base that spans the entire nation and into other countries as well. The gowns are sewn by women of all ages, and they come from many different walks of life. A lot of the dresses are donated by family members and friends of those who have suffered a loss.
When Judi Wright, a member of Grandview UMC in Pembroke, saw a story about a gown program at Riley Children’s Health in Indiana, she knew she wanted to do what she could to help. She contacted the founder, who was looking for seamstresses to help create gowns for babies in the NICU.
Wright was able to connect with a group of women at her church who love to sew and agreed to take on the task. The seamstresses work on the dresses at their homes, and they make them in a variety of sizes to fit preemies as well as full-term infants.
The team also makes “angel wraps,” which are a blanket with a pocket for the tiny, stillborn babies that would be too small to fit into a gown. Those wraps are also hand-made and are meant to be cherished.
A woman who lost her own baby to miscarriage is among those who volunteers with the group. She says she still can’t believe how meaningful it is to her to know that a family will have a gown to remember their baby by.
Anyone who wants to support the effort can help by donating dresses, sewing supplies or even by spreading the word about the organization. You can donate money to help cover the cost of materials and shipping, and you can always spread the word by sharing this article on social media or telling your friends about the project. You can also help by simply donating your old wedding dress that you never wore to an angel gown organization.