March 10, 2006

Special delivery: MGHer crochets hats for newborns

While many expectant parents spend time carefully selecting the clothes their newborns will wear home from the hospital, babies born at the MGH have been receiving a special addition to their first outfits, thanks to one MGH employee. James Taylor of the MGH Blood Labs crochets tiny hats for these babies, a hobby he first started in 1997.

At that time, Taylor's daughter, Aimee, was away at college and was homesick. Hoping that a hat in her new school's colors — dark red and white — would help her to better adjust, Taylor taught himself how to crochet with the help of an instruction manual. Aimee loved her hat, and with this success, word quickly spread about Taylor's talents. After crocheting a number of hats, blankets and scarves as gifts for family and friends, Taylor began to make hats for young cancer patients at MassGeneral Hospital for Children, prompting a friend and fellow MGH employee to suggest that he also deliver some to the MGH Vincent Obstetrics and Gynecology Service for newborn babies.

Every two months, Taylor delivers approximately 50 newborn hats to the Labor and Delivery Unit on Blake 14, where nursing staff later distribute them. He also crochets a number of extra-small hats for babies in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit and larger ones for infants receiving treatment in the Pediatric Oncology Unit. Taylor crochets them in a variety of styles and colors, including holiday-themed designs. Each hat takes roughly 25 minutes to crochet, which he does during his spare time. During the
past year, Taylor estimates he has made a total of 350 hats.

"I do this because it makes me happy to help other people," says Taylor. "If my hats make even one person smile, then all of the effort is worth it to me."

James Taylor, center, delivers hats to staff of the Labor and Delivery Unit on Blake 14.