We decided to start a new charity project as a guild too. Our quilts for the NICU was a huge success, and I hope this new project will be too. We're going to be making, excuse the cold clinical term, fetal demise pouches. These are for babies who don't survive and are so tiny there is nothing small enough to put them in.
Andrea, a nursing student, saw the pouches the hospital currently has and thought we could make something nicer. After all, babies are photographed, presented to their parents, and sometimes even buried in these pouches. Nothing is really special enough for that, but I tried to create what I would want to have, when I designed this pouch. I used the softest material (Anna Maria Horner voile and flannel) and a wrap style to cradle the little body.
I'm putting a link here to the tutorial pdf. If you have a desire to make these to donate to your local hospital, you are more than welcome to use this pattern. Different hospitals will have different preferences and regulations, so you'll want to get an example approved before making more. I'll warn you that making a pouch can be hard, emotionally, but imagine what it will mean to parents.FD Wrap Pouch Tutorial
10 comments:
Oh my goodness, this strikes a cord. I would love to make some.
i was so bummed to miss another guild meeting last night (sick mama + daddy out of town = no fun for mama)
how long will the new project will be open?
Thanks for the tutorial. The pouch is beautiful. I plan to put a link on my blog.
Oh, your little pouch is beautiful and looks so soft. It will be a great comfort for someone who has a tragic loss such as this.
good job on the tutorial, Alex. I'm glad we'll be able to help by making these.
what a beautiful idea -- i confess to a tear or two escaping me, reading about your unbelievably kind and thoughtful gift to these grieving families. bless you, and everyone who contributes, and everyone who receives such a gift.
Aww.... that makes me want to cry. :( Necessary and sad.
I think this is really nice of you! The pouch you designed must be so much nicer than what they were using previously.
I think using the ribbon with the word "baby" is just too sad, though. For me, seeing that ribbon would just remind me of the things I would have been putting on my baby if he'd survived.
Thanks so much ; I am sending your link to a friend of my daughter's who started a chapter of THREADS OF LOVE after her son passed away before he was born (he was over 7 months....) and now she's involved in Angels of Hope . this is her info :
http://sites.google.com/site/isaiahsthreadsoflove/
her facebook page is
Isaiah's Chapter- Threads of Love
Thank you for doing this. My daughter was born at 14 oz. and passed away 2 days later. It was very difficult to find something to put her in. These are beautiful and I'm sure the families will appreciate them very much.
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