Meet Mandy Joubert – the South Cheshire woman bringing comfort to hundreds of grieving parents across the UK.
Mandy has worked night and day through the pandemic turning old wedding dresses into beautiful tiny gowns and wraps for newborn babies who have died.
Devoting thousands of hours of her time, she has now made more than 500 garments sent to hospitals and funeral homes across the country free of charge.
Mandy, who lives in Weston, was inspired by her own painful experience of losing her grandson, Macsen.
She wanted to help parents by providing comfort and a chance to say goodbye to their babies in a more dignified way.
Now demand for her gowns has grown so quickly, she has set up Daisy-Mae Angel Gowns CIC charity and recruited helpers across the country.
The 57-year-old now works three full days a week, 8-10 hours a day sewing, and the other four days she is preparing wedding dresses and cutting patterns, as well as doing admin.
She said: “I started the charity with the blessing of Macsen’s daddy and mummy, which offers comfort to us all.
“It has healed a corner of our hearts that was broken.
“The charity means the world to me.
“I just love it, it’s wonderful. The charity would not be possible without all the wonderfully kind ladies donating their beautiful wedding dresses.
“I have a lovely group of ladies that are knitting the tiny baby hats and hearts for me.
“With every gown I will be attaching two little hearts, one that can be left with their angel, and one the family can have as a keepsake.
“This group of ladies are my knitting and crocheting super heroes. They are wonderful.”
Since 2018, Mandy has been crocheting special blankets for babies born asleep, the idea triggered in memory of her grandson Macsen who was sadly born asleep.
In June this year, a friend offered Mandy their wedding dress to make Angel Gowns.
“Before I knew it within eight weeks I had been donated 100 wedding dresses,” recalls Mandy.
“I’m just overwhelmed by the fantastic support it means the world to me.
“My time is given with so much love. The gowns will offer a little comfort to the bereaved families at such a sad time.
“Not only did we lose our precious grandson but also our own son was inconsolable and we, as parents couldn’t make it all right.
“These precious little babies are a lot of the time born premature and the parents are unprepared for their arrival.
“The gowns that I make are really tiny, especially for the premature babies.
“I have asked each bride that donates her dress, to write a personal note to the loved ones.
“So each gown that is made from her wedding dress, will be donated with a copy of her personal note.
“Which is really lovely and I’m sure will offer comfort to the families, knowing that others are thinking of them at this sad time.”
On each Angel Gown and Wrap, Mandy includes a little label, with blue writing that says…”Made with love💙MJ💙”
Nantwich mum Cherie Davies said the charity has helped her pay a special thanks to the staff who saved her son after he as born at Leighton Hospital back in 2004.
Cherie, from Stapeley, recently returned to Leighton with her son Reefe to present them with baby gowns made from her wedding dress.
Cherie recalls being rushed to hospital at just 28 weeks from a routine appointment at her GP.
“I had no idea what was going on and nobody would tell me anything,” she recalls.
“The next day I was woken in the early hours by the nurses telling me that I was being rushed immediately to theatre as the baby was in distress and was going to be born by emergency caesarean.
“I just remember lying there puzzled saying but I’m not having the baby for another 12 weeks.”
Reefe was born soon after weighing just 1lb 9oz and was taken straight to the neonatal unit where he was spent the next four and a half months of his life, the first five weeks on a life support machine.
“I didn’t even know if I had had a boy or girl as I was on so many drugs it was all a blur.
“All I had was a tiny little Polaroid picture of my son that honestly looked like a tiny dead bird.
“They explained that I had developed a rare condition that meant the placenta had started to poison me and that they had to deliver the baby or I would die.”
Her husband Martin had been warned that the outlook was grim for both his wife and baby.
“Although I didn’t have a baby born sleeping we could have lost our son on so many occasions,” she added.
Soon after Cherie got to wear her wedding dress as they were married.
“I can now hand back as a Thankyou for all their care,” she said.
“We saw so many babies pass during our time at the neo natal unit and it was heartbreaking.
“Reefe finally got to come home at 168 days old weighing 7lb 2oz and is now 16 fit and healthy and about to join the army as a junior soldier.
“This is the reason why donating my dress to such a wonderful cause is so close to my heart. Thankyou Daisy-Mae Angel Gowns for all you do.”
You can find out more about Daisy-Mae Angel Gowns on its Facebook Page.
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