For baby Anya, a preemie at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Ontario, the holidays will not be spent at home, but instead in the neonatal intensive care unit of the hospital. However, two nurses at Sunnybrook are bringing Christmas cheer to this tiny patient in their own melodious way.
In a video posted by Sunnybrook Hospital on Twitter, nurses Marieneth Montenegro and Lisa Sampson sing “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas” to a Santa hat-clad Anya while one of them rests her hand on the baby’s body, a part of the care often given to premature babies in the NICU.
In an interview with CBC Toronto, Sunnybrook NICU parent coordinator Kate Robson said that both singing and human touch have a soothing effect on premature babies.
“Babies love voices, and they love singing, and it’s something we try to encourage,” Robson said. “It calms them and it de-stresses them.”
Watch the heartwarming video below.
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Write to Cady Lang at cady.lang@timemagazine.com