Quilting for intensive care infants at St. Elizabeth

EDGEWOOD – The tiniest babies lie shielded from jarring sounds and blinking lights with cozy, hand-sewn quilts draped over their incubators in St. Elizabeth Healthcare's Neonatal Intensive Care Unit.

The quilts are gifts from the Stringtown Quilters Guild of Boone County, which has donated 88 so far and expects to drop off another 12 before Christmas.

"We love giving our quilts to these babies," said Deb Poole, guild president. "We want to show their parents that other people love their babies, too."

The Strington Quilters Guild works on a charity project every year, and this year, the project coordinator was Joanne Rigsbee, who has an inside view of the newborns in the St. Elizabeth Edgewood NICU. As manager of medical affairs at the hospital, a grandmother with two healthy grandchildren and a quilter with the guild, Rigsbee felt compelled to reach out to the St. E NICU babies and their families.

"When our guild was looking for this year's project, I thought what comfort a family would receive by knowing a group of strangers out in the community want to see their baby survive and thrive and triumph over their early health challenges," Rigsbee said.

The St. Elizabeth-Edgewood NICU staff cares for about 16 babies each day and had 686 admissions in 2013, said Tracy Burch, the NICU nurse manager.

"I knew we couldn't meet quite the demand," Rigsbee said, but she added: "I knew we could put a dent in it."

The Stringtown Quilters were in full agreement that the NICU was in need and went to work on 4-feet-square quilts –a size specified by St. E nurses – spending about 20 hours on each, Rigsbee said. They donated some quilts in August, more in November and plan to bring the rest next week.

The quilts are of all colors from pastels to primary and a multitude of patterns.

Burch said nurses use them to signal wake and sleep times for the newborns, but the quilts also make the hospital rooms more homelike.

"It's just such a stressful time in the family's life," Burch said. "It's nice for the families to see the quilts."

They start with the NICU, but the gesture doesn't end there.

"They follow them home upon discharge, providing warmth and comfort," Rigsbee said. "And sadly, if the infant doesn't survive, a loving memento of that important baby's life."

"It's our way of showing our love for what they're going through," Poole said.

The Stringtown Quilters Guild welcomes new quilters. To learn more or to join, visit stringtownquilters.com.