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Sew a Smile

Location

Los Angeles, California
Status

Active
Age Level

Any Age
Group Type

Community-Based Program

Project created by Maya S

Home/Projects/Sew a Smile

The Problem

1 in 10 infants born in the US are admitted to the NICU. Sew a Smile's goal is to create bonding hearts for NICU babies to provide comfort and care. Hearing about my mother's experience and numerous others shared by NICU parents made me realize the value of bonding hearts. Bonding hearts are 6x6in homemade cloths donated to hospitals, exchanging scent between mother and neonate to simulate skin-to-skin contact. Research shows that they can be a valuable tool to relieve stress and facilitate recovery.

Our Plan

To implement this project, I plan on reaching out to volunteers and hospitals to craft these bonding hearts and donate them directly to hospitals to be given free of charge to parents whose infants are in the NICU. I have spoken with 3 hospitals in the San Fernando Valley, and I'm in talks with a contact in Uganda for a possible future partnership.