By Jessica Corriveau
Premature babies at Kingston General Hospital are being wrapped in the love of the caring community of the Trent Valley Quilters Guild.
Local women from all over the Trent valley area have come together thanks to the guild to make over 200 soft linens, all donated to KHG’s neonatal unit.
Eighteen women came together for a day of sewing at the guild’s workshop.
“We’ve been doing this for four years. Sometimes we have two big bags once a year, sometimes we drop off one bag twice a year,” said Nicky Livingston, a member of the guild who brought together the workshop and was present to drop off the quilts.
“It’s a freebie event, the [participants] don’t need to pay to come, they just bring their sewing machine and we worked from 9 a.m. to about 3 p.m,” says Livingston. “All of the flannelette was donated, and we were given batting and leftovers from our Comfort Quilts events,” which make quilts to be donated to the seriously ill, fire victims, shelters and hospice.
“We’re happy to have them,” said Alyssa McCaugherty, a registered nurse in the neonatal unit at KGH.
A mother in the sunroom of the unit showed Livingston some photos on her cellphone of her preemie on one of the donated quilts from a previous year.
“It’s a fun day. It’s a great opportunity to get together and do something worthwhile,” said Jess Chambers, a Belleville resident and president of the Trent Valley Quilters Guild. “It’s a portion of our community who really need our help.”
The guild makes pads for the babies to lie on, tiny pillows to support the babies in the incubator and support their arms for IVs, as well receiving blankets and quilts.
“The quilts are there to wrap the babies in or cover them, and often they go home with the mother and her child,” said Chambers.
According to a demographic review put out by the Hastings Children’s Aid Society in March 2008, Hastings and Prince Edward County has seen a significant increase in preterm babies from 2002 to 2007, moving from 4.9% to 7.1%, matching the increase in Eastern Ontario in general. KGH works with Almost Home, a home for families of children admitted to hospital to offer an inexpensive play to stay for families from outside of Kingston, such as families from the Hastings and Prince Edward County area.