When a Lanarkshire couple’s premature baby daughter was delivered stillborn, and her twin sister lived for only four hours, there were only hospital blankets in which to wrap their little bodies as they lay cradled in their parents’ arms.
The new-born clothes Lauren and Ian had bought in excited anticipation of their twins’ arrival would have swamped their tiny, doll-like bodies.
Yet, Lauren’s motherly instincts made her yearn for something more cosy and comforting for the baby girls she’d lost.
“One of the first things that goes through your mind is, 'are they cold’?" Lauren told Lanarkshire Live, whose daughters, Billie and Malea were delivered 18 weeks premature at Wishaw General on June 15, 2021, weighing just 370 grams and 400 grams.
“They were just in a wee blanket the hospital had given us. It was cosy, but you want their wee bodies to have something more comfortable.
“We didn’t have any clothing to fit them.”
Thanks to cuddle cots – special cooling mattresses – Lauren and Ian were able to spend two precious days in the hospital with their baby girls.
The cuddle cots gave the couple the gift of time, during which they could make prints of their daughters’ tiny hands and feet.
Heartbroken, Lauren decided to channel her grief into doing something positive for other parents who experience similar, unimaginable loss.
When she set up a Facebook page, appealing for people to knit small hats that would fit a doll, she was inundated with tiny items, knitted by supporters who not only donated their time and skills, but also paid for the wool, postage and packaging.
Lauren then began making angel boxes containing two teddies – one of which stays with the baby, the other to be kept by the parents.
More than 200 of those boxes have since been distributed among Wishaw General, Forth Valley Royal Hospital, and the Queen Elizabeth II Hospital.
She and Ian set up the Billie and Malea Foundation, which has so far raised £3230 to buy five cuddle cots for the three hospitals’ neonatal units.
But the upset of not having clothing in which to dress her little “angels” remained with Lauren.
Then, she stumbled across a Facebook post by Hamilton businesswoman, Amanda Gilfedder, who was appealing for donations of wedding and communion dresses, which she and her team of volunteer stitchers would lovingly transform into ‘angel gowns’ for lost babies.
“As soon as I saw it, I thought: ‘I’ve always wanted to do that’,” said Lauren, 27, of Coatbridge.
“I thought I’d try and get together a few dresses. I got about 10 dresses within a day and took them over to Amanda.
“We got chatting and I told her my story.
“I was so appreciative that somebody locally was doing this.
“I told her how important it would be and how amazing she was for doing it.”
Happily, Lauren and Ian were blessed with the arrival on April 22 of baby son, Rio, who weighed in at a healthy 7lbs.
He’s a little boy who is showered with love.
Yet, in memory of his twin sisters, his mum will continue to support the work of the Lanarkshire volunteers whose efforts will enable grieving parents to dress their babies – for the first and last time – in an angel gown.
“Nobody talks about stillbirths. But there is help out there,” she assured.
It was around nine months ago when Amanda, owner of Sew You Can in Hamilton, noticed a social media post in which Craigneuk Lifelong Learning Centre (CLLC) was appealing for home sewers who could turn donated wedding dresses into clothing for premature and stillborn babies at University Hospital Wishaw.
That’s when CLLC struck up a partnership with Sew You Can, whose studio in Hamilton’s Guthrie Street runs sewing classes for adults and children.
Even those who are not confident sewers came forward with offers of help, from washing the donated dresses, to unpicking stitching and helping to cut out patterns.
“The response was phenomenal,” said Amanda. “So many people wanted to do something to help.”
More than 30 volunteers flocked to the studio last month to create 23 stunning, tiny angel gowns to be gifted to Wishaw General Hospital.
“It could have been a sombre day, and whilst there was a lot of reflection, it was also a lovely, happy day,” continued Amanda, who is planning to hold another angels gowns event, in partnership with Craigneuk Lifelong Learning Centre, in the Spring.
“Most people had a very personal connection, having worked in the medical profession or having lost a baby themselves.
“We came together as a community of stitchers and felt privileged to be able to help in this small way.”
■ Thanks go to Morrisons Hamilton and to Tunnocks for their donations of tea, coffee and biscuits.
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