Babies, children ‘celebrate’ holiday season at Intermountain Healthcare facilities

SALT LAKE CITY — Nurses and volunteers at Intermountain Healthcare are bringing some holiday cheer to families welcoming babies into the world during the festive season.

“At many Intermountain hospitals in Utah and Idaho, nurses wrap babies in the nursery in Christmas stockings and give the parents the stocking as a memento. For babies in the neonatal ICU, some nurses dress up as Santa and hold those tiny babies on their lap for a photo opportunity. And some hospitals with children’s units have Santa make a visit to older children,” read a Wednesday morning press release from Intermountain Healthcare.

Intermountain Healthcare says the knit hats some of the babies are wearing in the above pictures were hand-knit by either hospital volunteers or nurses.

From Jan. through Nov. 30 of 2022, more than 24,000 babies were delivered at Intermountain hospitals in Utah and southern Idaho. The healthcare system says about 2,000 more are expected to be delivered throughout December.

During that same time period, more than 3,100 babies were cared for in Intermountain’s neonatal ICUs, with another 200 or so expected in December. At Primary Children’s neonatal ICU, hospital staff treated 375 babies.

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