PHOTOS: NICU babies at Henry Ford Hospital celebrate first Halloween with hand-knit costumes

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DETROIT (News 10) - As Halloween approaches, dozens of Henry Ford Hospital’s tiniest patients are celebrating their first Halloween in style, thanks to a local volunteer.

Nurses in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) dressed little ones in hand-made costumes, an annual tradition for families celebrating their babies’ first Halloween at the hospital on West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.

See all of the babies’ costumes in the gallery below.

The health system says lots of planning and knitting make the yearly tradition possible.

Valerie Atkinson has volunteered her skills for the last 9 years, bringing handmade costumes to family’s babies who are spending Halloween in the NICU, according to a Henry Ford press release.

“I am always excited each year to see the parents and nurses smiling,” Atkinson said, per a press release. “Being able to help give every family some fun during this stressful time uplifts my spirits!”

This year, knitters from the Monroe yarn shop Knit-Picky & Hooked and the Monroe Center for Healthy Aging helped Atkinson with the time intensive project. Generous donations to Atkinson covered the cost of the yarn, officials said.

Each family gets to keep their handmade costume as a memory of their baby’s very first Halloween.

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