Posted: 10/28/2019
Staff hosts Halloween costume crafting party for parents of NICU babies
It’s spooky season! That means soon kids will dress up as their favorite character while asking for sweet treats at your front door. And staff at Parkland Memorial Hospital is making sure that even the tiniest newborns and their families in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) get in on the fun. Up to 90 NICU babies at Parkland will celebrate their first Halloween with handmade costumes thanks to Parkland child life specialists who hosted a costume craft party on Oct. 16.
“For most families, having a baby in the NICU is a completely unexpected and scary experience,” said Jennifer Porter, a NICU-certified child life specialist. “Dealing with the hospitalization of a child is difficult, especially for parents of newborns. Part of our job as child life specialists is to help families cope with this stressful life event by providing opportunities to focus on positive things — like celebrating Halloween by creating costumes for their babies who are unable to be home with family during the holidays.”
NICU staff members, volunteers and parents gathered before Halloween to help create a costume for every baby in the unit. The adorable costumes included a rainbow, emojis, and costumes for twins, such as peanut butter and jelly.
Martha Moreno, 26, a Dallas residents whose baby has been in the NICU for two months, said she appreciates events like these. Her son Isaiah will be dressed as Boss Baby for Halloween, a character she believes best fits his already-developing personality.
“I chose that costume because he’s strong, doesn’t give up and just likes being a boss about things,” said Moreno, smiling. “Out of nowhere he is just doing so much better. We have a bunch of hope that he will soon come home.”
Crystal Summersett, 34, of Dallas, is the mother of Madison, a baby girl born prematurely at 29 weeks. She attended the Halloween craft party with her husband and mother, where they made three costumes with the intention of donating two to NICU babies whose parents couldn’t attend the party.
“Madison’s costume is Zero from the “Nightmare before Christmas,” because that was our wedding theme,” said Summersett. “We were married on Halloween, so we just wanted to stick with that. “
The child life specialists at Parkland gathered supplies like felt, ribbon, glitter and hot glue purchased through an annual grant during the weeks before the costume craft party. All parents of NICU babies were invited to attend the event. Those who couldn’t make it were assured their baby would still have a handmade costume, courtesy of staff and volunteers who took part.
“Our NICU staff is dedicated to helping our smallest and most fragile patients heal and thrive and to helping their parents and families cope with all the emotional challenges they experience,” said Regina Reynolds, MSN, RNC-NIC, NEA-B, Director of Nursing-Nursery Services at Parkland. “Anything we can do to bring smiles and a sense of normalcy is worth the effort and celebrating Halloween is just one of the many ways we try to help.”
In FY 2018 Parkland’s state-of-the-art Level III neonatal intensive care unit had 1,466 neonatal inpatient discharges, with an average daily census of 70. Length of stay ranges from a few days to several months, depending on the infant’s condition. The 96 private NICU rooms include sofa-beds that allow family members to stay overnight with their little ones. Parkland opened the first neonatal intensive care unit in Dallas in 1973.
To learn more about Parkland services, visit www.parklandhospital.com.