Jamison Pugh, in pig costume, with mom Tina and nurse who helped sew some costumes, Shelley Sterrett. PHOTO COURTESEY OF CEDARS-SINAI’S MAXINE DUNITZ CHILDREN’S HEALTH CENTER
Volunteers were working hard on the days leading up to Halloween to ensure a festive celebration for the babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of Cedars-Sinai’s Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center.
In what has become an annual tradition, volunteers from Good Beginnings and some nurses in the Maxine Dunitz Children’s Health Center created adorable costumes, all handmade, for the tiny babies who were spending their first Halloween in the hospital. Each specially-made costume features Velcro openings so the babies can easily be placed in them without disturbing their tubing to life-saving machines.
Jordan Downing with mom, Shirlon Fuller. PHOTO COURTESEY OF CEDARS-SINAI’S MAXINE DUNITZ CHILDREN’S HEALTH CENTER
The volunteers and nurses buy all the fabric and do all the cutting and sewing themselves. They made 40 costumes this year in various sizes. Parents were able to choose from 23 different themes, including butterfly, pumpkin, monkey, zebra, cheetah, minions, Olaf from Disney’s Frozen, pig, clown, tiger, owl, Dalmatian, candy corn and watermelon.
The Halloween costume party has been a tradition at the medical facility for 17 years.
“The costumes bring joy to the parents in an otherwise difficult time,” says Charles Simmons, MD, chair of the Department of Pediatrics and director of the Division of Neonatology. “It allows families to celebrate the holiday with their newborn even though their baby is still in the hospital.”
