Nearly every Thursday, Hallace arrives at our NICU to hold, rock and sing to fragile newborns like Gabriel.
In 2015, Hallace Sheridan was attending a special lunch event for St. Michael’s Hospital volunteers when the woman sitting next to her asked a simple question.
“She asked me, ‘Do you like babies?’ I said, ‘I sure do like babies!’ And she told me about a brand-new baby cuddling volunteer program starting up in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU),” says Hallace, who had been volunteering in the Palliative Care Unit for several years.
“I said, ‘I’m in,’ and we both went and signed up.”
Ten years later, Hallace is among the NICU’s longest-serving baby cuddlers. Nearly every Thursday, she shows up at 9 a.m. to hold, rock and sing to newborns in need of a little extra help.
The program, which is among the first of its kind in Canada, was created in response to research showing that babies with neonatal abstinence syndrome—those experiencing withdrawal symptoms after being exposed to opioids in the womb—spend an average of six fewer days in the NICU when they receive consistent cuddling. It’s since expanded to include newborns whose parents can’t be with them around the clock.
Hallace says the experience has been the joy of her life.
“I am privileged to do this volunteer job,” she says. “Just to think that you can comfort this tiny baby who has so many challenges ahead of them, there’s no feeling like it.”
A mother, grandmother and former nurse’s aide, Hallace believes each baby she holds can sense her calm nature.
“I think babies sense everything. They love to lay against your chest because they can feel your heartbeat,” she says. “I feel so calm when I hold them, and I really think they get something out of it, too.”
And she’s not just there for the babies: Hallace loves bringing comfort to parents visiting their newborns in the NICU.
“I like to say to the moms, ‘Okay, mom. This is a beautiful little baby, but how are you?’ Sometimes they give me a look that says, ‘Oh, somebody knows I’m here.’”
At nearly 85 years old and having battled two different types of cancer, Hallace says she plans to continue cuddling babies in the NICU.
“It has made my life joyous,” she says. “I’ll be doing it as long as I possibly can.”
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