A beautiful send-off

When Rosalind Tong’s premature baby girl died in 2011, she and her husband had the heartbreaking task of finding an out fit to cremate her in.

The hospital had wrapped their daughter in a white cloth and placed her in a plain cardboard box, Rosalind recalls.

The clothes she had bought for her daughter were too large. “But something had to be done,” says the 41-year-old stayathome mum, who has a son in Primary 1.

She ended up buying a dress for her daughter from Mothercare at Vivocity.

It was still too big, so she had to fold it around her baby.

Rosalind, whose 44-year-old husband is in business development, said it took two years before she could step into that store again.

A few months after the death of her child, she Googled for ways to create a keepsake of her daughter and chanced upon Angel Gowns in the US.

The organisation provides parents with burial out fits for their premature babies, stillborns or infants who have died.

The group was started in 2013 by Lisa Grubbs, wife of a specialist for premature babies and founder of the Neonatal Intensive-Care Unit Helping Hands organisation. She collects wedding gowns and gets seamstresses to turn them into tiny out fits.

Making a difference Rosalind wanted to start a similar group here, but had limited time and skills. She was working as a marketing executive then and could not sew.

Her plans lay dormant until earlier last year, when she joined a hobby Facebook group, The Sewing Network (Singapore), to learn to sew.

By chance, another person on the group posted an article on Angel Gowns, which got her fired up again.

In June last year, she left her job, which freed up her time to set her plans in action.

At the same time, Andrea Toh (pictured next page, left), 42, also saw the Angel Gowns post on The Sewing Network (Singapore) and was keen to get something started. The mother of four girls put out a notice on the sewing group’s page, asking who was interested to meet and get to work.

Andrea, who runs a software business from home, says: “I’ve never had a miscarriage or experienced infant loss, but know others who have had stillbirths.

It was traumatic for them. If something like this could make a difference, why not?” In August last year, seven women, including Rosalind and Andrea, started Angel Gowns Singapore.

They had different skills and took on various roles from managing social media to deconstructing gowns. The group includes married women with no children and mothers who have experienced loss or know other parents who did.

They accept bridesmaids’ out fits, evening gowns, children’s baptism dresses and even men’s suits, which can be used to make vests for boys.

A touch of love and comfort Wedding gowns might seem like an unusual choice of raw material for a baby’s out fit, but Andrea says: “The gowns were used for happy occasions. When you link that love and happiness of the person who wore it, we hope it brings an element of love and comfort to a sad event.” Calls also went out on social media and donations poured in, with the group receiving about 50 dresses so far. One of the first Angel Gowns founders, June Lee, 31, who is a mother to a six-month-old boy, donated her $8,000 Vera Wang gown.

About 50 volunteers, from experienced to amateur seamstresses, have also come forward.

Regional tax director Juliana Lim, 39, donated her $6,000 custom-made wedding dress.

She read about Angel Gowns Singapore from a post on a recycling Facebook group.

Juliana, who got married in 2003, adds: “I don’t think I’m going to have a child, so I won’t be passing on my gown to my daughter.

“For such a good cause, I didn’t think about how much I spent. The alternative is just keeping it in the cupboard. There’s no point hanging onto something for a memory.” Stay-at-home mum Ginny Png, 36, whose daughter died of heart failure 10 weeks after birth, donated her gown in her memory.

She says: “A wedding gown is such a big part of a very important time in your life and has lots of sentimental value. To send it off to become something else that will impact others means a lot to me.” She recently gave birth to another girl and also has a three-year-old son.

Angel Gowns Singapore meets every third Wednesday of the month from the morning till the evening, at Rosalind’s flat in Sembawang.

In stations, the volunteer seamstresses deconstruct the gowns, cut the cloth using a template and repurpose it into smaller gowns.

Some seamstresses work from home and the deconstructed out fits are couriered to them.

There are four sizes – micro preemie, small, medium and large. There is also a wrap available for premature babies under 20 weeks old.

‘‘People might feel the gowns are a sad thing, but I think it will bring some relief to the grieving parents.‘‘

She spent 10 hours hand-sewing her first Angel Gown. To date, she has made about 17 such gowns.

Kristy, who was a preschool principal but left her job to take care of her daughter, says: “I’m grieving badly, so I want to find something to keep myself busy.

“People might feel the gowns are a sad thing, but I think it will bring some relief to the grieving parents.”

Once the gowns are completed, Andrea handwashes and irons them, sews on a small metal angel-shaped charm and packs each gown into a cellophane bag. She also puts in a card with the same charm.

She then delivers the gowns to hospitals. KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital has received 29 out fits, while 12 have been sent to Mount Alvernia Hospital.

Karen Poon, director of mission at Mount Alvernia Hospital, says: “We were impressed by the intricate work and thoughtfulness of making these gowns.

“We want to present these Angel Gowns to the parents to consider as we know they want a beautiful send-off.

This not only respects the dignity of life, no matter how brief, but it is also a way of passing on love.”

Even though Angel Gowns Singapore has just gotten off the ground, its founders hope to keep it financially sustainable.

For now, they depend on cash and in-kind donations. Volunteers sometimes pay for supplies out of their pocket.

They will also need another space to work out of, as Rosalind intends to go back to work.

She says: “As much as we hope the gowns won’t be used, they will be.

We want to get a constant supply going.