(Supplied)

By Josh Hall | @Vancan19

hope, love and joy

Red Deer NICU, postpartum and pediatrics units carry on Christmas traditions

Dec 22, 2023 | 2:45 PM

Staff in the NICU, pediatrics and postpartum units at Red Deer Regional Hospital are keeping two traditions alive this holiday season.

The first began in in 1993, when a teddy bear arrived on the Red Deer Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) attached to a letter.

According to lore, a family who had experienced their own trials in the NICU wished to pass on a gift to another family to show compassion.

So each year at Christmas, a NICU family is chosen to carry on the tradition in the name of hope, love and joy.

“Over the years, we’ve had times when families haven’t been able to pay it forward right then and there, so staff make sure one is gotten to pass along. We recognize it’s a very difficult time for families in the NICU, so there is no obligation on the selected family,” says Amie Mays, manager of the three units.

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“Also, it’s not always a bear. We’ve had a rocking horse, a bag of baby supplies, clothing, diapers. The family is selected based on their NICU experience. This is something our family is pretty proud of, especially given we’re going on 30 years this year. There are a lot of good memories.”

The second tradition is that of babies in stockings.

Elizabeth Stones, from Caroline. (Supplied/AHS)

There are 60 stockings, 20 for each unit, and they are made by a community volunteer. Families take them home at the end of their stay.

“We’re a 17-bed NICU here in Red Deer, and I anticipate we’ll be completely full through Christmas week,” Mays adds, highlighting the demand on those units.

The stockings initiative goes back about four decades.

READ MORE

• Stocking babies bring joy to Red Deer hospital staff and new parents