On World Prematurity Day, Sunday, November 17^th, members of The Junior League of Greenwich (JLG) created and delivered 30 care packages to new parents who have babies in the NICU at Greenwich Hospital.

According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 out of 10 babies born in the US last year were pre-term, or born before 37 weeks of pregnancy. Parents of premature babies often spend many hours at the hospital by their infant’s side so the gift bags included a variety of necessities from reusable water bottles, snacks, and crossword puzzles, to hand sanitizer, personal hygiene products, bottle brushes and even scratch mittens for the babies.

“We are extremely grateful to the Junior League of Greenwich for sharing these gifts with the parents of newborns in our neonatal intensive care unit. Their generosity will be remembered not only by our NICU families, but by the nurses and physicians who care for these newborns,” said Barbara Leafe, RN, director of Nursing Operations and Transformation at Greenwich Hospital.

The JLG also brought coffee and doughnuts for the day shift nurses and sent dinner to staff on the evening shift in appreciation of their hard work and dedication caring for these vulnerable babies, and supporting parents.