Knitted festive-themed hats for mums giving birth on Christmas Day at Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells

by Tom Pyman

Mums who give birth on Christmas Day will be able to keep their newborns warm after dozens of knitted festive-themed hats were donated to a hospital trust.

The idea of providing a keepsake for parents to keep in their baby's memory box was the brainchild of Cat Leigh, Infant Feeding Lead for Maidstone and Tunbridge Wells NHS Trust.

Holly and Georgiana with Cat Leigh and the festive hats for newborns. Picture: MTW
Holly and Georgiana with Cat Leigh and the festive hats for newborns. Picture: MTW

Within eight weeks of appealing for knitters via Platt Church of England Primary School in Sevenoaks, where her middle child Oliver is a pupil, Cat was presented with 50 hats.

They were lovingly made by Whitstable-based Saxon Shore U3A Knitting and Crochet Group, which Year 1 pupil Holly Hall’s grandmother is a member of, along with a family friend of fellow pupil Georgiana Syrett.

The hats have been sent to the delivery suite at Tunbridge Wells Hospital as well as Maidstone Birth Centre and Crowborough Birthing Centre ahead of any newborns arriving on December 25.

Cat said: “The love and attention to detail that have been put into these hats is amazing.

"We are so grateful and thankful as a unit to our wonderful knitters who have volunteered their free time to ensure that all our Christmas day babies receive these lovely gifts.”

Victoria Syrett, mother of Georgiana, added: “Both my girls were born at Pembury so it’s really nice to be able to help out in a small way as all the midwives, and the wider team, were all so good to us.”

Read more: All the latest news from Maidstone

Read more: All the latest news from Tunbridge Wells

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