Wairarapa Midweek 23rd December 2020

Wairarapa’s locally owned community newspaper

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2020

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Knitting to heal others Group makes clothes for ‘angel babies’ Erin Kavanagh-Hall Members of a Masterton crafting circle have picked up their knitting needles to help grieving parents dress their little angels for their final journey. Te Awhina Cameron Community House’s weekly knitting and crochet group has embarked on a special pre-Christmas mission: hand-crafting tiny outfits, blankets and wraps for babies who are stillborn, known as “angel babies” within the baby loss community. The woollen items, many of which are scaled-down several sizes to fit the smallest angels, will be gifted to Wairarapa parents who have recently experienced a stillbirth. So they are able, if they choose, to dress their baby for a funeral and burial. The project was the brainchild of Te Awhina coordinator Donna Gray, inspired by a conversation with an artist friend who does ceramic casts of angel babies’ hands and feet as keepsakes for bereaved parents. Her friend had just done a casting for a baby girl who was delivered at 24 weeks gestation and died during the birth. The child’s parents, like any proud new mum and dad, wanted

to dress their baby, but could not find clothes small enough to fit her. Keen knitter and crocheter Donna got to work and began researching and tinkering with patterns for premature baby clothes – and eventually enlisted the help of Te Awhina’s crafting circle. Donna, who lost her baby son 30 years ago, said traditional rituals, such as picking out clothes for their child’s funeral, or wrapping them in a shawl before placing them in their casket, could be an important part of the grieving process for parents of angel babies. “As humans, we are not designed to bury our children – no matter how old the child is, our brains can’t accept it,” she said. “But there are little things that can help us through, like having a special outfit you can put your baby in before you send them on that final journey. “If that outfit is handmade, with aroha in every stitch, it makes it all the more special.” The craft group, which meets Tuesday afternoons at the Te Awhina hub on Stuart Cres, is

Te Awhina Cameron Community House’s weekly knitting and crochet group members Reta Warren, leftLisa Gray, Michelle Waddell, Donna Gray, and Linda Smith. PHOTO/ERIN KAVANAGH-HALL

Continued on page 4

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