Yesterday at our Sunday Stitchers monthly meet up I noticed one of the ladies was stitching heart shaped pieces of flannel...she had quite a bundle in the bag in front of her. After watching Tatyana stitching pairs of heart shapes together for a while, the busybody in me, just had to ask what these were for.
Apparently Brisbane's Mater Hospital put out a request for people to stitch these hearts for use in their Neonatal Critical Care Unit. Here is how it is explained on the website...
Apparently Brisbane's Mater Hospital put out a request for people to stitch these hearts for use in their Neonatal Critical Care Unit. Here is how it is explained on the website...
'The simple act of holding your baby whenever you want is something mums in Mater Mothers' Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) can’t always do. Soft fabric ‘Cuddle Hearts’, linking mum and baby, fill a gap when the two can’t be together.
The fabric hearts are simply two heart shaped pieces of material (soft cotton or flannelette) sewn together. One fabric heart is given to the mother and placed on her chest to pick up her scent, with the other heart placed close to the baby for the same reason. The hearts are then swapped so mother and baby are left with each other’s scented heart.
The program has been introduced to help a mother’s milk come in when she is apart from her baby, while the scent of the mother also has a calming effect on the baby.'
Tatyana explained that 3 stitched hearts are used for each mum and baby...one to be with the baby, one to be with the mother and a spare one. The hearts are regularly swapped back and forth between the mum and baby.
What a wonderful and simple idea. I was so moved by Tatyana's explanation of why she was stitching that big pile of cut out flannel hearts.
