Recycled dresses for early-death babies

Kirstin Rouse makes gowns and wraps from donated wedding gowns for stillborn babies and babies who die early in infancy. Photo / File

A Rotorua woman has joined a group hand sewing dresses and wraps for stillborn babies and babies who die early in infancy.

Barbara Morgan said Angel Gowns NZ can make about 12 gowns from one wedding dress, hundreds of which have been donated by the public over the past three or four months.

"We also make wraps about the size of a handkerchief for the wee ones who are too small or too delicate to dress.

"It's amazing how many we do and how many we use, I didn't realise we had such high mortality rates with infants, it is quite surprising."

In New Zealand more than 300 babies are stillborn every year and their parents are given the option of dressing their babies.

Donated wedding dresses often came from people who had lost a child, she said.

"We usually have a story with the wedding gowns, usually they have had a stillborn in the family and want to donate their gown in memory."

She said the babies were so small they often do not fit normal baby clothes.

"They are like dolls' clothes, it's hard to get clothes that size.

"You just have to put aside out of your mind what you are doing them for, or it is quite depressing, you can look at is as making dolls' clothes."

Angel Gowns NZ was set up by Hamilton midwife Kirstin Rouse.

The patterns are supplied by Angel Gowns Australia which provides the same service, but plans are also under way to come up with a pattern more suitable for boys. The idea was the brainchild of US hospital worker Michelle Matthews who runs Angel Gowns by Michelle from Washington.

The public responded strongly to a call for wedding dresses, and Angel Gowns NZ does not need any more wedding dress donations, Ms Rouse said.

"I have put a stop on any dress donations at the moment as I have a large backlog to get through. We will be accepting dresses again in the future."

Visit www.facebook.com/angelgownsnz for more information.

- Additional reporting Nikki Preston.