South Carolina NICU babies celebrate Halloween with star-studded costumes
The preemies donned crafty costumes, including superstars such as Dolly Parton.
The staff at HCA Healthcare's Summerville Medical Center in South Carolina is going out of its way to make Halloween a little less scary for NICU babies and their families.
The hospital’s NICU nurses showed off their skills by creating 16 festive costumes for their tiniest patients, complete with handmade backdrops and a photo shoot to commemorate the babies' first Halloween.
For this year’s costume theme of "Famous People," the preemies donned crafty costumes, including superstars such as Dolly Parton, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, Elvis Presley, Peyton and Eli Manning and Amelia Earhart.
As a nod to health care heroes, one adorable baby was dressed up as Dr. Assaad Merchak, Summerville Medical Center’s neonatology medical director.
The annual tradition of celebrating Halloween with the preemies makes the holiday special for new parents and babies who will be spending their first Halloween in a hospital NICU rather than at home.
“We make costumes for Halloween for pure enjoyment,” said nurse Michelle Fulton. “Every holiday is difficult when you can’t be at home with your family. This gives a little something special to families that are experiencing a difficult time.”
According to HCA Healthcare, more than 215,000 babies are born at its facilities each year.