The loss of a baby is the most devastating thing a parent can experience. For families whose infants have died before, during or shortly after birth, special garments called angel gowns can provide a moment of comfort and peace. The tiny dresses are crafted from donated wedding gowns and are gifted to grieving parents to use for their child’s final photographs, memorial services or burial. The gowns are handmade by volunteer seamstresses who transform bridal wear into one-of-a-kind gowns for infants lost far too soon.
Hundreds of these gowns, which can also be used as cocoons and buntings, have been sewed by volunteers for babies who were miscarried, stillborn or died shortly after birth. The volunteers, who are all women, say that snipping and sewing their wedding dress for an angel baby is healing for them, too.
After losing her son Noah in 2014, Haley Clark purchased a wedding dress that she never wore and was planning to donate it. However, she found out that another local woman — Colleen Angel, known as Grandma Angel — also makes little angel gowns out of wedding dresses for premature babies. Angel agreed to take Clark’s dress and sewed it into at least 16 tiny angel gowns, all with blue butterflies embroidered on them for girls or boys and matching fabric hearts or bow ties.
“They were perfect,” Clark said of the gowns. “They were so soft and just beautiful. I knew that’s what Noah would have wanted.” Clark’s gowns were delivered to Baptist, UAMS and Ouachita Memorial hospitals in Camden.
The angel gowns are made by volunteer seamstresses all over the world. In the United States, there are more than 60 volunteer groups. Some are national, others are small, neighborhood-based groups. Several of them are run by mothers who have suffered the same loss and want to help other families.
One of the national groups is the Angel Gowns of America, which has an international program, as well. In the international program, donors can follow the beautiful journey of their donated dress to a developing country (Guatemala is currently the destination) and even virtually meet with the seamstress who has created the angel gown for them.
The international program also allows donors to keep some of the dresses to donate locally, as well. The American group has two local chapters in Michigan — the NICU Helping Hands and the Angel Gowns of South Bay. The NICU Helping Hands group at Sparrow has been making angel gowns for years, and members recently honored Kalahar by giving her $500 for the work she does on behalf of local families.
For Mayo Clinic nurses who have had to care for children and their families dealing with the loss of a newborn, the gowns are a source of comfort and hope. “When you lose a baby, it’s heart-wrenching, and you feel this internal poverty,” says nurse Lynn Gaber, who works in the cardiovascular surgery ICU at Mayo Clinic. “When we can give these gowns to parents, it helps them to feel like there is some sort of purpose.”