The spirit of the season is alive in our NICU. Watch as two nurses sing a carol to preemie baby Anya… ? pic.twitter.com/Ovy5MdjOub
— Sunnybrook Hospital (@Sunnybrook) December 21, 2016
That’s the true holiday spirit! A video posted by Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto shows two nurses in the neonatal intensive care unit singing to a premature baby, Anya — and it’s the most heartwarming scene ever.
In the clip, nurses Marieneth Montenegro and Lisa Sampson, who are wearing Santa hats, sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to the tiny baby. As Anya hears their voices, her vital signs start to steady on the monitor, proving the power of a Christmas carol. One hospital staffer places her hands on Anya, who is hooked up to feeding and breathing tubes, while they’re serenading the preemie.
The hospital tweeted the one-minute video on Wednesday, December 21, writing, “The spirit of the season is alive in our NICU. Watch as two nurses sing a carol to preemie baby Anya…”
The NICU coordinator Kate Robson told CBC that she came up with the idea to record the veteran nurses so people can see “what loving care looks like,” she said. “Babies love voices, and they love singing, and it’s something we try to encourage. It calms them, and it destresses them.”
Robson also explained why the nurses keep their hands on Anya, who was born on December 11. “Human touch is the best medicine for babies,” she said.
Due to the terrific care at Sunnybrook, Anya “is doing very well,” the baby’s parents said in a statement, via CBC. They are looking forward to bringing home their daughter in early 2017.
