Here is a tangible way you can help during this time of national crisis. The Birth Center needs masks. There is a dangerous shortage of face masks at the hospital where The Birth Center transfers laboring women with complications, and The Birth Center has never needed mouth and nose protection for low-risk laboring women, so they have none. And there are none available for purchase.
They would like to stay healthy and keep working. Here’s how you can help:
- If you have extra masks at home, donate them. A person at home doesn’t need a mask as much as a medical professional.
- If you have hepa vacuum bags (the cloth kind with many layers) or elastic, you can donate that for others to make masks.
- Make masks with materials from your house, or with materials that others donate.
Digging around your home looking for fabrics and materials? The New York Post reports that a recent study showed vacuum cleaner bags offer 86 percent protection against the smallest particles tested, followed by dish towels at 73 percent, a cotton-blend T-shirt at 70 percent and an antimicrobial pillowcase at 68 percent. If you’re sewing your own mask, test it—if water seeps through it or the inside gets wet, it’s not effective.
Here are patterns and instructions for two styles of masks:
Patterns and Instructions can be found here:
And Pattern 2 has a Tutorial on You Tube if you want to see someone making it in action.
If you have items you would like to donate, or if you would like to make masks but don’t have materials, contact Becky Foster to arrange a drop-off or pick-up which would involve social distancing. If you need help getting in touch with Becky, you can leave a message at the church office (office@stthomasglassboro.org or 856.881.9144).