Erlanger newborn and neonatal babies receive red caps on Valentine’s Day

blainekelley Erlanger News, Women's Services, , , , ,

This Valentine’s Day Erlanger Health System is educating new moms on the importance of staying healthy in a most unusual way.

To create more awareness about women’s health, Erlanger partnered with the Genuine Purl yarn shop and their customers to knit tiny red hats for newborn and neonatal intensive care (NICU) babies at Erlanger East Hospital and Children’s Hospital at Erlanger on Valentine’s Day.

Individual knitters and knitting groups from the Burks United Methodist Church Knit-Wits and Chickamauga Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution took advantage of Genuine Purl’s knitting kits with supplies and instructions on how to participate in this year’s heartfelt educational program for new moms.

Red hats were placed on newborns and NICU babies born on Valentine’s Day, and a card was presented to mothers bearing this message:

Dear Mommy,

I’m wearing this cute little red hat to remind you to love yourself like you love me.  So please take care of your health, because I’m going need you a long time. 

“It is so important for new moms to have regular primary care checkups after giving birth to screen for common issues like post-partum depression, but also to emphasize healthy lifestyle like getting adequate sleep, nutrition and optimal supplements,” said Erlanger primary care and family medicine physician, Dr. Stephen Fox.  “New mothers feel a lot of pressure and responsibility to provide excellent care for their newborns, so making time to get support from a clinician who can emphasize and prioritize caring for self is vital for both mother and child.”

For more information on Erlanger’s Primary Care services, please visit www.erlanger.org/primarycare.

For more information on Genuine Purl, visit https://www.facebook.com/genuinepurl/.

Volunteer knitters from Burks United Methodist Church with hand-made red hats that were donated to Erlanger’s newborn and NICU departments.
Erlanger Baroness Hospital – Baby Adelle Faulkner sleeps comfortably in Dr. Leslie Griffin’s arms after receiving her red hat from UT Family Practice at Erlanger.
Children’s Hospital at Erlanger – Primary Care Physician, Dr. Leslie Griffin, places a red hat on NICU baby, Lucy Durall, to help bring awareness to women’s health.
Children’s Hospital at Erlanger – NICU baby, Elliot Durall, wears one of more than 150 red hats donated by volunteer knitters