Every year, thousands of babies are born too soon. Many die from stillbirth or miscarriage, and they leave their families heartbroken. To help give them some comfort, parents receive an angel gown, a little outfit made for their baby to be dressed in at their first and last moments or for photos. Each gown is made from a wedding dress or other formal gown donated by a family. It’s offered free of charge to grieving families and delivered directly to hospitals.
Judi Pruin knows the pain of losing a baby during pregnancy and at birth, having lost her own son at 18 weeks gestation. After seeing an article about the nonprofit organization, “Angel Gowns,” on Facebook, she felt led to volunteer her time. Now, she’s one of more than 40 seamstresses who sew angel gowns for babies in Iowa and around the country.
Pruin’s story started with a dress, but now she’s got hundreds of dresses donated to her group. Those donations are crucial to the success of the program. It’s a nationwide effort and the gowns are offered free to grieving families. “We do everything we can to help make it as easy and as stress-free for them,” said Jacki Cohoon, of West Des Moines.
The women who work with the group are all volunteers who take their time out of the day to make these tiny gowns. They all have their own stories of loss, but they share a common goal to honor those tiny lives. They want to make sure no parent ever has to dig through a tub at the hospital for burial clothes, and that’s why they make these angel gowns.
Sunshine State Angel Gowns was founded by a former labor and delivery nurse, who didn’t forget the heartbroken parents she saw after each tragedy. Her idea was to start a nonprofit, and in just a few months she gathered 44 seamstresses in South Jersey to make these gowns. They are offered to hospitals, birthing centers, funeral homes and directly to the grieving families free of charge.
These angel kits include a special gown, a blanket and two hats. The outfit is perfect for smaller newborns, to be dressed in at their first and last moment or for photos. The little outfit is then placed into a memory box and given to the parents to keep.
These kits are given to grieving families free of charge by an organization called Angel Babies, which has been delivering the gowns since 2018. Last year alone, they gave out 175 angel kits. The demand has been increasing, and the group hopes to give out even more this year. The nonprofit is always looking for donations and volunteers. If you would like to help, click here for more information. It’s also possible to send a dress to a developing country through the organization’s international program, and you can follow the dress’s journey through social media. It’s a way to see the impact your donation has and to build a relationship with the seamstress who is sewing your gown.