Eight legs of cotton comfort for tiny, too-new babies

Self-taught crocheter Bronwyn Richardson is using her newfound skill to make cotton toys for premature babies.

Richardson has been inspired by the Octopodes Project SA, which seeks to give premature babies in hospital wards a source of comfort by providing small crochet octopus toys.

Because babies like to pull on things, the idea is to give them something comforting to pull on in the form of the knitted toys with tentacles.

Richardson calls it the “Mason Project”.

Teaching herself to crochet during lockdown, Richardson came across the Octopodes Project SA on Facebook.

“I started out making basic squares and using YouTube tutorials and free patterns. I'd always wanted to learn to crocheting,” said Richardson, who is in love with amigurumi —  the art of crocheting small animal toys or dolls.

“I first made a big octopus for my son, who is almost five. I had a friend who had a preemie baby and he had one of these octopus toys with him in hospital. They spent a lot of time in hospital so I've named my project after her son, Mason,” Richardson said.

Contacting  Cecilia Makiwane and Frere hospitals in BCM, Richardson came to realise that the project had not yet reached these hospitals.

“The Octopodes Project runs across SA, but not on a large enough scale yet. It hasn't reached all the hospitals in need so I've gone on my own tangent, following the project's rules and regulations to try to make as many as possible,”  Richardson said.

She dropped off her first batch of 20 octopodes at the CMH neonatal intensive care unit  on Monday.

“When I contacted Cecilia Makiwane they were so excited and ordered 100, but it's just me, my two hands and my spare time, so I'm trying my best to finish them up in batches,” Richardson said.

She said there were very precise measurements and specific materials to be used in order to make the toys safe for infants.

“The tentacles have to be a certain length because you're dealing with babies and they can cause strangulation if they are too long. You also have to use 100% cotton because if you use acrylic the fibres can get into the babies' eyes.”

CMH paediatrician Dr Felicity Goosen said the ward was full, with 12 premature babies in the intensive care unit. As such, every bit of comfort and support was a blessing.

“We are so grateful for this. Our babies often get forgotten and this is such a wonderful way to give them some comfort. In intensive care they have a lot of lines attached to them as most are on lung support.

“Their little hands pull on everything so this gives them something much more interesting to pull on, but it can also reassure and soothe them. There isn't just this empty space in their beds any more,” Goosen said.

Richardson said while doing her research on the octopodes project she found that the tentacles of the octopus simulated the feeling of the umbilical cord and offered a source of comfort when the babies grabbed onto them.

She is hoping to recruit a few more crochet volunteers to the octopodes project.

“I want to reach out to as many clinics and hospitals around the Eastern Cape as possible. If the East London community gets involved we can help so many preemie babies in need of some comfort in hospital.”