Once a week, Betty Hicks arrives for her shift in the neonatal intensive care unit at Michael Garron Hospital, formerly Toronto East General.

Hicks signs in, thoroughly washes her hands the way she was shown during her training, and puts on a gown.

The retired school teacher and grandmother of four then sits in a rocking chair, where she is passed her first client of the morning, one of the NICU’s tiny patients.

A veteran hospital volunteer, Hicks is one of five baby cuddlers who spend one morning each weekday hugging and holding babies. Many of these infants were born prematurely, and some are struggling with other medical conditions, including maternal opioid drug exposure.

Once she has a babe in arms, the effect is palpable. “I can almost feel its little body relax,” says Hicks. “And they don’t complain when I sing to them or talk to them.”

Dr. Yelena Popovic, neonatologist and medical director of the hospital’s special care nursery, says the advantages of cuddling, rocking and singing are better known now than they were a short time ago.

Preemies and other sick infants were once kept mostly in their isolettes, but medical science has since proven the human touch is vital.

“Multiple studies have shown that babies who have adequate amount of skin-to-skin care actually tend to grow better, to have better immunity, to have less incidents of infection or sepsis,” says Popovic. “They generally are calmer, they have less stress hormones released, which can have a negative impact on their development. But they also grow better and go home sooner.”

This is where the volunteers come into play, since parents often have other children at home and few can be at the hospital around the clock.

“We have in our hospital a significant portion of immigrant and low-income families where parents have no help with child care or can’t take time off work, or have transportation issues. So we do have a fair number of babies who end up not having regular visitation by their parents and their families.”

Instead of just being handled every three hours when they’re fed, volunteers hold them in between feedings. “Our volunteers sometimes talk to them, sing to them, and just that feeling of being safe and secure when in a volunteer’s hands is really precious for them.”

For those who were exposed to drugs in utero, the comfort is especially vital. Popovic says these babies are going through withdrawal after birth. “They tend to be irritable, crying a lot, so they definitely benefit the most, because when they’re held, cuddled and allowed to suck, they can self-regulate much better.”

The volunteer effort is sponsored through Huggies “No Baby Unhugged” program, which pays to train the cuddlers on safety, privacy, hygiene and other protocols, as well as donating rocking chairs and other equipment. Last week it announced additional funding to expand the program with new volunteers covering more hours during the day and on weekends.

“We also want to put emphasis on having our cuddlers there when babies are undergoing painful procedures and injections. This is where their help is really precious,” says Popovic.

The program exists at five hospitals across the country and three in Ontario — Michael Garron, Markham Stouffville Hospital and Southlake Regional Health Centre in Newmarket.

It brings Popovic joy to walking through the NICU and see the volunteers helping out.

“Most of them are grandmothers who have experience with their own grandchildren. I just feel the same energy that they probably were exuding with their own grandkids. There are always extra arms to help with nurses who need help and they just bring that calm and secure feeling that babies can thrive on.”

The program gives big returns to the cuddlers including Hicks, who has a schedule busy with curling and lawn bowling when she’s not volunteering at the hospital.

“I call it the calm. It’s my time to also relax and it’s a feel good feeling all around,” she says. “The babies get to be hugged, and I can reflect back on having hugged my own children as babies, who are now 44 and 42, and having hugged my grandchildren, who are 11, 9, 7 and 10.”

Hicks says it gives her pleasure to know she’s providing peace of mind to the parents of NICU babies.

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“One day I was cuddling this baby and we were having a wonderful time. The mother walked in, I looked at her, she looked at me and she was a student that I had taught. It was a very nice reunion,” says Hicks. When she offered to hand the baby off to mom, her former student said, “It’s OK. I have a few things to do and I know my baby’s in good hands.”

“That was very rewarding.”

Correction - September 19, 2019: This article was edited from a previous version that misstated the name and location of Newmarket’s Southlake Regional Health Centre.