A wedding dress that once celebrated a beginning is now helping families navigate one of life's most difficult losses.
For Winter Haven resident Jane Sasinek, donating her wedding dress was a way to honor both her late husband, Phil, and families experiencing loss.
Phil Sasinek spent years battling multiple forms of cancer before his death in 2016. During his illness, the couple renewed their vows, creating a cherished memory and giving new meaning to the wedding dress Jane Sasinek would later hold onto for years.
Eventually, she decided the gown could serve another purpose. Sasinek donated it to BayCare’s Winter Haven Women's Hospital, where volunteers transformed it into angel gowns that provide comfort to families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss.
"I knew I wanted it to go someplace special," Sasinek said.
The donation supports BayCare's Winter Haven Women's Hospital’s ongoing efforts to care for families facing perinatal loss through compassionate resources, remembrance programs and community partnerships.
Supporting Families Through Loss
All BayCare Labor and Delivery teams are trained to work with families about grief when there is a pregnancy loss.
"All of our women’s hospitals provide online or in-person programs for families coping with perinatal loss," said Suzanne Gray, a nurse educator at BayCare’s Winter Haven Women’s Hospital.”
BayCare’s Winter Haven Women's Hospital provides a variety of remembrance items and support services to help families honor and remember their babies. Resources include memory boxes, photographs, blessing certificates provided through the chaplaincy team, keepsake bracelets, blankets and porcelain angels. The hospital also offers a cooling cot, giving families additional time with their baby if desired, and follows up with families after their hospital stay to connect them with ongoing support and resources.
The hospital also partners with God’s Littlest Angels, a Kentucky-based ministry that transforms donated wedding dresses into angel gowns and suits for babies lost through miscarriage, stillbirth or infant loss. The garments can be used for photographs, memorial services or burial and are often given to families as treasured keepsakes. The organization also provides handmade memory bags and blankets that help families honor and remember their babies.
The support extends beyond BayCare’s Winter Haven Women's Hospital. Similar programs are available at other BayCare hospitals, including Bartow Regional Medical Center, which also provides memory bags for families, and BayCare's South Florida Baptist Hospital.
A Gift Transformed
When Sasinek decided to donate her wedding dress and several of her late husband's shirts, Gray connected her with Vicki Scott, a Kentucky resident who volunteers with both BayCare's Winter Haven Women's Hospital and God's Littlest Angels.
"When Jane called to arrange donation of the dress and told me how much the dress meant to her, I thought connecting the two of them would make it easier for Jane to part with the dress," Gray said. "When I told Vicki the story, she was very open to meeting Jane. She immediately thought of making Jane a memento dress and an outfit also from her husband's shirt."
Scott took the materials home, where she and a team of 27 volunteers carefully deconstructed the dress, removing decorative stones and repurposing the fabric into angel gowns for families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss.
"We're doing it for someone I don't know and will never meet, but it's for someone who needs it," Scott said.
The wedding dress was transformed into six angel gowns, while Phil Sasinek's shirts became seven boys' vests. When Scott delivered the finished garments to BayCare's Winter Haven Women's Hospital, one detail stood out to Sasinek: a bright pink accent incorporated into one of the designs. Unbeknownst to Scott, pink was one of Phil Sasinek's favorite colors.
"When I saw she had done that, I couldn't believe it," Sasinek said.
A Lasting Legacy
Through partnerships with organizations like God's Littlest Angels, angel gowns created from donated wedding dresses have reached hospitals across the country, including BayCare's Winter Haven Women's Hospital.
"The donation of a wedding dress is a beautiful and selfless gift," said Gray. "By offering something so meaningful, it helps bring comfort and dignity to families experiencing one of the deepest heartbreaks imaginable, the loss of their baby. We are thankful for both the donations and for the crafters that turn these dresses into the most beautiful outfits."
The angel gowns are just one part of the support available to families experiencing pregnancy and infant loss. BayCare’s Winter Haven Women's Hospital also offers remembrance items, keepsakes and the Forget Me Not Pregnancy and Infant Loss Support Group, a monthly program that provides families with ongoing support and resources as they navigate their grief journey.
For Sasinek, the decision to donate her wedding dress was an easy one. Having experienced the loss of a child through miscarriage herself, she understood the profound impact even a small gesture of comfort can have on grieving parents.
“The donation is a hug to all the moms that lose their babies,” Sasinek said.
BayCare Resources for Families
BayCare offers educational programs, support groups and other resources for women and families throughout the counties it serves. To view upcoming events at BayCare's Winter Haven Women's Hospital, visit
BayCare Events.
