Mulhouse. The Ladies in Pink and their "cocoon arms" at the bedside of hospitalized children

It's past 4 p.m., the July sun's rays gently pierce through the blinds and light up the room of Adèle (*), born anonymously and hospitalized in neonatology. Six weeks old, she has just fallen asleep in Catherine's arms, who has placed her in her little bed and is now caressing her belly.

On the infants' floor, Florence watches over little Suzanne, 6 months old, whose mother has just left the room. "Hello," she whispers to her, taking her in her arms. "I hear you like your rainstick, so let's play with it then." At the same time, Abdel, 6 years old, hospitalized for two days in the continuing care unit, receives a visit from Isabelle, who has come with a board game. "Shall we play?" she suggests.

Finally, in the activity room of the older children's ward, Marie-Jeanne, Claudine, and Sarah brought the materials needed to offer a craft workshop to the older children who have been hospitalized, sometimes for several weeks due to chronic illnesses or mental health problems. "Always more important." Here, around the table, people keep their hands busy to clear their heads.

For over fifty years, at the Mulhouse hospital, not a day has gone by without the Ladies in Pink, so-called because of the color of their blouses, being present in the pediatric wards, with the hospitalized children.

Of these children, to whom they devote two, three, four hours of their day, sometimes their evening and their weekend, they know nothing other than a first name, sometimes an age. "Unless they tell us, we don't know why they are there, and we don't ask anything, of anyone. Our motto is discretion," says Isabelle Cahn, president of the association Les Dames en rose de Mulhouse .

For them, it doesn't matter anyway. They don't take care of sick children, they take care of children. "Per se," they insist. "We are not caregivers, we are not here to provide technical care: giving injections, washing noses, performing examinations, or even giving bottles or changing diapers."

The Ladies in Pink provide care differently. "We are there to mother, to bring a presence, as much as possible, tenderness, a moment of play, a breath of fresh air to these children when their parents are not there." Children born under X, awaiting placement, whose parents cannot be present permanently because they also have to take care of siblings... The situations are diverse.

On every floor, in a public hospital that is bled dry and its services are stretched thin, their presence has become essential. "The children here need attention, time to wake up, and we have neither the material resources nor the manpower to provide it. So they [the Ladies in Pink] are the cocooning arms we're missing," says Marie-Line Huet, a pediatric nurse acting as a neonatology supervisor. Split between two departments, Cécile Duhoux, an early childhood educator at the Mulhouse and South Alsace Regional Hospital Group, finds their presence reassuring. "When several babies are alone, I can't cut myself into small pieces. Being able to count on their support is therefore very supportive, as well as very important for the children. A sick child, if they are well cared for, contributes to their recovery."

"In fact, they complement us," summarize Gwenaëlle, a childcare worker, and Audrey, a special needs teacher. "For the children, their time with the Ladies in Pink is a time when they have the choice to do what they want. Care, exams, and medication are imposed. It's like a break from care."

Catherine, Florence, Isabelle, Marie-Jeanne, Claudine, Sarah, Monique, Simone, Claudine, Annette… Today, there are around forty of them, aged between 30 and 80, who are part of the Dames en rose de Mulhouse. The association is atypical . In 2025, it does not have a website, let alone social networks. “We do very little communication, no announcements to “recruit” volunteers, it is they who find us and come to us,” explains the president of the association, which has thus managed to regenerate itself and ensure the sustainability of its mission for more than half a century.

In this line of Ladies in Pink, the commitment is more voluntary than charitable. "It comes from deep within us," says Isabelle Cahn. Very few of us know each other or see each other outside of the hospital. "And despite that, we are rooted in each other. If one day one can't come, another will immediately offer. We don't care about meeting every month for coffee; we're only there for the children. Personally, I see it as a gift of oneself, without expecting anything in return."

Years later, it still happens that... "Recently, a Lady in Pink who was shopping was accosted by a young girl. 'Hello, do you recognize me? You took care of me when I was in the hospital, we did some crafts together,'" reports Isabelle Cahn. "To be recognized like this is the most beautiful testimony." And the assurance that the mission has been accomplished.

(*) All children's first names have been changed.