Els Pisters from Veldhoven has been making baskets and shawls for babies born after 20 to 30 weeks of pregnancy who die at Máxima Medical Center in Veldhoven. Parents receive the handmade items during a profoundly difficult period. Pisters began the work in 2015 after hearing that a relative’s premature baby had received only rags. She had stopped working because of physical problems and wanted to do something useful that she could manage herself.

She covers each basket, adds a mattress and makes a matching shawl. Donations from Round Table 166 Veldhoven have enabled her to buy fabric in larger quantities. Pisters delivers batches of finished baskets and shawls to the hospital and adjusts her workload according to her physical condition. She does not seek contact with the parents, but recently received a phone call from a woman who had lost her baby the previous year and said the basket had meant a lot to her.