Cuddler Volunteers Recognized as Local Heroes

Husband and wife duo Pat Rice and Claire Fitzgerald have been volunteering as Cuddlers for more than 20 years

A story this week from KALW public radio is recognizing a special group of volunteers at Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital Stanford as local heroes: the baby Cuddlers.

For more than 25 years, the Packard Children’s Cuddler program has provided extra pairs of loving arms for premature and sick infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Parents spend as much time as they can with their hospitalized newborns, but they sometimes need to be away from the bedside, especially if the baby is in the hospital for a long period of time. Just as physicians and nurses tend to our tiny patients’ medical needs, the Cuddlers come in to support the babies’ emotional needs by holding, comforting and even singing to them when their parents can’t be present.

The Cuddlers play an important role for the medical care team, as Maureen Roberts, RN, a nurse in the Packard Children’s NICU, describes in the KALW segment:

“The Cuddler program is so great because we all want to see our babies get positive touch and stimulation — to be held more. It is so nice for us to have the Cuddlers come and hold our babies.”

Husband and wife duo Claire Fitzgerald and Pat Rice, both retired psychologists, have been volunteering as Cuddlers for more than 20 years. Earlier this year, they were recognized by Oprah magazine as 2017 “Health Heroes” for their service. Many years ago, their son, who was 3 months old at the time, was hospitalized with a suspected brain tumor. It turned out to be only a suspicion, but they remember the fear and worry they experienced while their newborn was in the hospital.

“I was one of those worried moms, and I said when my hair turns gray, I will come back and say ‘thank you,’ because I thought that was a great way to give back to the community,” Claire told KALW.

Cuddler volunteers can make a lasting impression on parents during their stay in the NICU. Seyi Mclelland is the mother of three young children, all of whom were born prematurely. She explained to KALW that the Cuddlers’ presence brought her family great comfort through the tumultuous journey of her babies’ first few months.

“You know, they actually nurture the whole family,” she says. “Not just the baby. It is you as well.”

Listen to the full KALW segment: http://kalw.org/post/special-hands-help-fragile-babies-stanford-nicu#stream/0