Look what Santa brought! Holiday newborns sent home from hospital in STOCKINGS

  • The Magee-Women's Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center sends newborns home in stockings and knitted caps each year 

By MailOnline Reporter

Published: | Updated:

Adorable babies born at a Pittsburgh hospital are heading home with their parents in tiny stockings. 

The Magee-Women's Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center snapped photos of the tots lined up in the stockings, each with a green or red hat atop their head.

Parents spending their first Christmas with their babies at the hospital get the stockings and hand-knitted hats as keepsakes, ABC reported.

Nurses at the hospital have been organizing the event for several years, it added. 

Gifts: Newborn babies are seen bundled in tiny stockings at Magee-Women's Hospital at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center in Pennsylvania. Their parents can keep the stockings and hats as keepsakes 

On Facebook, staff shared a photo of the pile of tiny hats that volunteers have kindly knitted for the new arrivals.

'If you've walked through the Magee lobby recently, you may have noticed a group of women surrounded by construction tape,' a message on the page read.

'Known as the "Magee Knitters", the group started in September 2014 with a mission to make caps for the newborn babies at the hospital.'

By Tuesday, the Magee Knitters had whipped up a staggering 193 hats for the babies. 

'Of course, they're always happy to welcome new members, so next time you're in the neighborhood, swing by the Magee Knitters station!' it added.

Festive: The hospital has been carrying out the tradition with the help of volunteers for several years

Nearly 11,000 babies are born at Magee each year, which accounts for 45 per cent of all births in Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, according to the hospital's website.

The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) is the largest in the state and one of the largest in the U.S. and treats more than 1,500 seriously or critically ill babies each year. 

Other hospitals around the country have also adopted the tradition, including Kettering Medical Center in Ohio, which has been popping tots in stockings for 20 years. 

In Albuqurque, New Mexico, the Presbyterian Hospital has been sending babies home in stockings for 36 years. This year, staff worked on 35 stockings for the babies.

Treats: This year, volunteers knitted nearly 200 hats for newborns at the Pittsburgh hospital

Good work: This year, volunteers knitted nearly 200 hats for newborns at the Pittsburgh hospital. Right, Dena Chottiner, Chris Piccioni and Bernie Koval put the finishing touches on their hats


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