Royal Hospital for Women nurse sings and soothes sick babies
NEWBORNS in intensive care are being soothed and lulled to sleep by one very special nurse and his melodious Yorkshire accent.
Southern Courier
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NEWBORNS in intensive care are being soothed and lulled to sleep by one very special nurse and his melodious Yorkshire accent.
Chris “Mr Yorkshire” Noble, a nurse in the Royal Hospital For Women’s newborn intensive care unit (NICU), can often be found singing nursery rhymes to his tiny charges as he tends to them. And the hospital is crediting his compassionate care for helping babies with birdlike frames thrive.
“They really calm down once they hear a familiar voice, or feel a gentle human touch,” Mr Noble said.
As well as singing, he said he’ll chat to them quietly about how cold it is in the town he grew up in, Scarborough, Yorkshire.
“I often tell their parents that I get them to sleep at night by talking about the cricket.”
Mr Noble, 37, said he was fascinated early in his career by “little people” and has worked ever since in newborn intensive care.
“They have their own little personalities very early on. They’ll sleep in a certain way, with a hand over their head, or try and pull a tube out.”
And within days, many of them are trying to find their own voices. “Sometimes it’s just a tiny squeak, but it’s incredible the way they try to express their personalities.”
NICU nurses such as Mr Noble also help parents cope with caring for premature babies.
“Sometimes the parents say they don’t know how to love their babies, because they’re out of reach in their humidicribs,” he said.
“It’s very rewarding showing them they can care and love for them very early on, and seeing them go home with confidence and a big smile on their faces.”
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