Copyright M Live Michigan
GRAND RAPIDS, MI - Halloween has once again arrived at Trinity Health Grand Rapids, bringing joy and creativity to the hospital’s tiniest patients and their families in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Though the babies can’t go outside to trick-or-treat, dressing up in costumes allows families to celebrate a childhood milestone. Kirstie Dixon, clinical services manager for Trinity Health Grand Rapids NICU, said the initiative helps relieve the emotional strain of spending holidays in the hospital instead of at home. “That’s why our team pours their creativity into making perfectly sized, hand-crafted costumes—so even our tiniest patients and their families can share in the joy of Halloween and experience these traditions," Dixon said. Families were gifted the costumes and provided with printed photos to commemorate the day. Some of the costumes included the smallest Detroit Lions football player, spaghetti and meatballs, a parrot, and twins dressed up as peanut butter and jelly. Each costume was handmade by the NICU nurses with lightweight felt and tailored to accommodate medical devices and incubators, ensuring the babies’ care and monitoring were never disrupted. The Trinity Health Grand Rapids NICU is a licensed, 15-bed Level III unit that cares for approximately 200 to 300 newborns annually. The team provides specialized care for a wide range of patients—from those who are medically fragile and require intensive support, to full-term babies who need a little extra help before heading home. “We had fun again this year coming together as nurses to create these personalized costumes that we hope their families will love,” said Michaela Behrens, a registered nurse at Trinity Health. “Halloween is one of our favorite times in the NICU, and we had so much fun capturing these photos of our patients in their first Halloween costumes.”
