The Mater Mothers (@matermothers on Instagram) put the call out last week for crafty people to make some cuddle hearts #cuddlehearts.
These are small hearts made from soft fabric or flannellette (nothing synthetic) that can help share a mother’s scent with her premmie baby.
“The simple act of holding your baby whenever you want is something mums in Mater Mothers’ Neonatal Critical Care Unit (NCCU) can’t always do. Soft fabric ‘Cuddle Hearts’, linking mum and baby, fill a gap when the two can’t be together.
The fabric hearts are simply two heart shaped pieces of material (soft cotton or flannelette) sewn together. One fabric heart is given to the mother and placed on her chest to pick up her scent, with the other heart placed close to the baby for the same reason. The hearts are then swapped so mother and baby are left with each other’s scented heart.
The program has been introduced to help a mother’s milk come in when she is apart from her baby, while the scent of the mother also has a calming effect on the baby.”
Link to the heart shape and instructions
The Mater Hospital is in Brisbane, Australia but I dare say a lot of other hospitals around the world that have NICUs might have need of these cuddle hearts, so check out your local hospital!
I made my first batch from Jodie Carleton’s Bunny Trails fabric but I have more planned… the tiny cuddle heart fits on a 5″ square so a good way to use up some cute scraps 🙂
I did add seam allowance to the heart shape and turned mine out as I didn’t want them to fray and leave loose threads around, but I may not do that with all of them.
Would love to see yours if you get a chance to make any cuddle hearts. Don’t forget to tag them #cuddlehearts on IG and #matermothers
Wow, this is a new concept to me. I have never heard of this but what a wonderful idea!
Can the 3 hearts per pack be made from 3 different patterns/coloured fabrics?
Hi Myra, yes I believe it doesn’t matter 🙂
Can the hearts be crocheted with soft cotton yarn?
I believe that they have to be able to be washable, so that might rule out being knitted or crocheted…. Mater Mothers have updated their call for assistance to say they have been overwhelmed and have enough for the time being. Us crafty types obviously sent them LOTS! 🙂