After her daughter died in the NICU, Kathleen Hulet’s heart ached for families who would not get to bring their babies home. Then she remembered an article she’d seen about a seamstress who transforms wedding dresses into infant burial gowns, known as angel gowns. These beautiful little dresses are offered to hospitals, birthing centers and funeral homes — as well as directly to grieving parents – free of charge.
Those little gowns are changing lives, and they’re being used to help families remember their tiny baby in a meaningful way. Across the country and around the world, many families struggle to find clothes to dress their baby for their final photos and for internment. So the gowns created by volunteers like Kathleen are a gift that helps ease some of that stress, a way for families to hold on to their baby for a little longer.
One such family is at UCLA Mattel Children’s Hospital, in the NICU and PICU. Earlier this month, the hospital received its first package of precious angel gowns from volunteer seamstresses. These beautiful, custom-made gowns, along with matching blankets and bonnets, will be given to families when a child is born stillborn or dies during or shortly after birth.
At no cost to the parents, Sunshine State Angel Gowns uses exquisite wedding gowns donated by caring people across the nation to make small, delicate burial gowns for infants who die before, during or immediately after their birth. These glorious gowns, called angel gowns, are then delivered to hospitals, hospitals’ neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) and funeral homes – and to families who have lost their child – all over the country and in four countries worldwide.
This is not an exhaustive list, but it shows that the need for these gowns is truly global. And it’s an incredible testament to the compassion and dedication of volunteers like Kathleen and the rest who make it possible.
ANALANE POWELL: The first time I met Kathleen, she told me her story. Her daughter was born at 24 weeks and weighed just 1 pound. She lived only four days and died from a rare lung disease. Her mother was unable to find clothing small enough for her, and that’s when she decided to become a seamstress to make angel gowns for other grieving families.
Since that article was published in May 2018, Kathleen has sewed thousands of angel gowns, and she’s not alone. Volunteers from all over the country — and in four other countries — have joined her cause.
The gowns are made from a variety of fabrics, including bridal gowns and formal dresses. Each one is washed, cut and sewed by hand, and some are machine-stitched. They’re offered to families all over the United States and in many other parts of the world, as well as at hospitals in the Spokane and Coeur d’Alene areas. They’re also being sent to hospitals in Oregon, Texas and several other states.