Our mission is to enrich the Neonatal intensive Care Unit experience of premature and sick babies by providing non-medical support.

Any amount of help can make a huge impact in the early stages of a new life.  The most satisfying way to help is donation of time and efforts to a great cause. 

Why we created Hats and Peas

Bunmi and Tade’s son David, was born so premature, his tummy was not ready for human milk. Born at 30 weeks, the only way to give him nutrients and medicines was via a semi-permanent intravenous feed. With the photo-light, lines, tubes and CPAP machine hanging over him, Tade’s heart broke every time she stepped into the NICU. However, there was the reassuring and gentle comfort in the care that the nurses at the New Life Centre of Winthrop University Hospital provided.

They would carefully place David in the small of Tade’s chest every time she visited. Being too small to be held or dressed for over four weeks, the one thing he could wear were tiny hats that the nurses dressed him in to provide some warmth. It was great to see him improve and grow daily; and as a result he grew out of his tiny hats in a matter of days.

Unfortunately, the needs of premature babies do not meet commercial profitability standards. NICU’s are always in dire need of hats and blankets as hats for babies that are smaller than the average newborn (5 to 6 pounds) are hardly available for sale.  The NICUs rely heavily on knitted hats donated to the hospitals. 

Our aim is to provide crochet/knitted hats that can fit them as they grow in leaps and bounds. Due to the inability to retain body warmth and maintain their body temperatures, nurses rely on knitted blankets as an added layer to the hospitals’ generic receiving blankets. The hospitals count on the kindness of strangers to meet these basic needs for soft and washable hats and blankets. Thus, Hats and Peas was formed to serve this need.