Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital celebrates little Christmas miracles

Long Beach Miller Children’s & Women’s Hospital brought in 14 newborn babies swaddled in Christmas stockings — just in time for Christmas Eve.

Every holiday season, the hospital does a festive photoshoot for the parents of newborns, swaddling their bundles of joy in stockings to take home. 

“[It] brings joy to the families but also the community too because new born babies symbolize new beginnings, new life, new opportunities for families,” said Nicole Noche, the clinical operations manager for the postpartum unit.

Nurses delivering newborn babies in festive Christmas stockings has been a Miller tradition for 63 years. 

Noche, a 12-year nurse at Miller hospital, said they’ve seen multiple generations of families participate in the event, creating a full-circle moment for many families. 

Donning red bows, flower headbands and Christmas-colored necklaces, nurses wheeled in the newborn babies and presented them to their parents, beaming with pride and joy. As newborn babies were walked out, the parents circled the walkway, recording the special moment from a distance. 

For first-time father Fernando Hernandez, it’s an exciting and life-changing event for him. “I’m excited to be a dad officially, that’s life changing,” Hernandez said. 

Hernandez’s daughter, Fernanda, was born on Dec. 21 and the baby is expected to be discharged tonight pending lab results. 

“We’re glad, we’re gonna be hopefully home right before Christmas,” he said. “We’re totally ready for it. We were expecting her to come a little later and she decided to move the date a little forward.”

The freshman father said the event caught him and his wife by surprise and they were extremely happy to participate.

“All the staff took care of my wife, the baby, myself included,” Hernandez said. “Being a first parent, it’s a little nerve-wracking but they made the experience so much better, they comforted us for sure.”

Noche said she wanted to bring the families an extra piece of joy along with their newborns, going that extra mile for their patients and the families in the community.

“I would like to thank the families who choose to deliver and be here, to have their babies here at Miller Children’s Hospital,” she said. “We feel honored and thank them in any way, shape or form and now through the holidays, we do that for them.”