Regina Binz started the Holy Sews ministry at Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church in Little Rock in 2008 to provide clothes designed to fit stillborn babies to hospitals in Arkansas, but the Holy Spirit had other ideas.
In April 2007, she and her husband, Kevin, found out their baby no longer had a heartbeat. Ryan was delivered stillborn at 17 weeks. The clothing that the nurses had was all much too big for him.
She knew she wanted to do something, so another mother didn’t have to experience that. Binz grew up on a farm in Dry Fork (Carroll County), learning to hand sew from her Great Aunt Alma. She always “fiddled” with sewing. Binz’s mother, Sarah Lichti, was in the Extension Homemakers, who helped her work out designs.
The design of the tunic took time to develop, close to a year, as the babies are tiny and fragile. Once the design was right, Binz wasn’t sure what was next.
She was visiting a friend on Thanksgiving in 2008 and on a whim they decided to visit Mercy Medical Center in Rogers.
“The nurse looked at us in disbelief and said, ’Really?’ Then she told us there was a woman in labor right now and the baby would be stillborn,” Binz said. “I knew what I was doing was right and that mother needed that layette.”
Our Lady of the Holy Souls Church helped Binz in the ministry, providing meeting space, support and funds to buy supplies. As word got out about the program, others joined in to help. They were able to create a website for information.
“One thing led to another. Someone was touched by the ministry and gave a donation. Mothers who received a layette have joined. It blossomed and grew. And is continuing to grow beyond Arkansas,” she said.
The last thing a mother should worry about during this heart-wrenching time, Binz said, is what to bury her baby in.
“We take great care to make sure things are perfect. We make it like how we would want for our baby, because we know what it’s like. The last thing you think about in that situation is clothes. We do this, so another woman doesn’t have to say ’I don’t want my baby to be buried naked.’ We can eliminate that fear and give the mother something beautiful for her child,” she said, “We put it in God’s hand and let it go.”
The group provides area hospitals with a keepsake box with a layette, which they can give to mothers. The set includes a tunic, cap, blanket and tiny teddy bear. There is no charge for the hospital, and each set is blessed before it is donated.
“To hold your lifeless child is the most agony I’ve ever experienced,” she said. “This affects everyone. It is more of what Jesus would do — extend caring and compassion to everyone. This is about respecting life by honoring them in death.”
Once word spread about the group and its ministry, women from around the country have asked to start chapters of their own.
After putting the word out about their group on a national grieving website, Binz soon heard from four women who wanted help starting a chapter.
“It is unbelievable. The plan is already made, not by me — by the Holy Spirit. I just take it day to day,” she said. “I kind of thought that eventually I would want this to be in other places. It’s all been very liberating.”
The chapters that she is working with will be in Dallas/Fort Worth, Virginia, Iowa and Saskatchewan, Canada.
“We’re working on building a good base,” she said.
Binz is working with the chapters on instruction manuals, how-to videos and other information needed to have a successful and smooth-running ministry.
It’s an honor, she said, to help others start this ministry that helps women at one of their darkest hours.
“It is very humbling and exciting at the same time. My sorrow has turning into dancing. Something so horrible in my life has turned into something beautiful. The fact that it is spreading is very powerful,” she said. “It wasn’t just me. I’m just someone who listened.”
