Dawn Harpur with some of the Octopals.
The Cambridge arm of the international ‘Octopus for a Preemie’ organisation is one of the recipients of recently distributed funds from last year’s Christmas festival.
The organisation exists to ease the early days of premature babies by providing tiny crocheted octopuses known as Octopals.
The comfort aids work by giving babies in Neonatal Intensive Care Units (NICU) something safe to cling to that prevents them from trying to pull out the tubes that are keeping them alive.
Cambridge’s Dawn Harpur, who runs the Octopus for a Preemie NZ charitable trust, said the welcome $1000 donation from Christmas Festival Funds will go towards the cost of the yarn and the postage and packaging of Kiwi Octopals made by her team of voluntary crocheters.
Dawn first came across the organisation when her cousin in the UK sent her a link to a news article over there.
“The concept started in Scandinavia in 2013 when it was discovered that newborns in neonatal units were less stressed when they had an Octopal than babies who didn’t have one. They have gone on to win global acclaim and are now used in hundreds of hospitals around the world.
“The crocheted tentacles give the baby something safe to grip and squeeze … some think it may be because the spiral tentacles feel like the umbilical cord. Babies with them are reportedly calmer and don’t pull out their tubes and wires.”
Neonatal babies holding on to an Octopal are less likely to pull out life-saving tubes.
British-born Dawn, who was learning to crochet around the time the organisation came across her radar, wanted to join a New Zealand group. When she couldn’t find one, she started her own in 2017, working closely with the UK-based side of the organisation to ensure she follows stringent safety requirements.
The Octopals are made to a specific size and standard using materials that are washable at high temperatures for sterilisation purposes.
“Quality control and safety standards is absolutely crucial,” she said.
“Each Octopal is made to a specific pattern. They’re all a specific size with the same tentacle length… there can be no holes in them, no spaces for tiny fingers to get through. Each one is meticulously checked and sterilised before it is packed and sent out.”
Dawn, who is a registered valuer with her own business, has added a matching crocheted heart with the Octopal, intended as a keepsake for parents when they can’t be in the NICU unit with their baby.
After publicising the new group on social media, she was contacted first by Middlemore Hospital, then others.
Middlemore now regularly take Octopals through Dawn’s group, and many hundreds of the tiny crocheted comforters have been gifted to neonatal units around the country.
An interesting twist is that the rhythmic comforting benefits of Octopals are also being noticed in areas outside neonatal units. They are included in some care packs made up by Kids in Need Waikato, and previously by Violence Free Waipā to comfort children in stressful situations.
They are being used to calm older babies, refugee children and others seeking solace and are helping people living with dementia.
