Jode Murphy didn’t start out with the goal of dressing up every baby in the Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) when she made her first costumes for the ward back in 2019. The idea just blossomed:
“At the time, I worked on night shift, and a group of us decided it would be fun to make some costumes, not necessarily intending to do the whole unit,” Murphy said this week as the hospital unveiled its gallery of NICU Halloween babies. “We were known for making special little mementos for the whole unit—Mother’s Day cards, various holiday crafts. But that year, in a 4 a.m. delusion, we decided to do something more than our typical ghost and pumpkin handprint cards.
“We all went home and created a bunch of costumes,” Murphy, who has worked in the hospital’s NICU since 2008, recalls. Then the day shift nurses jumped on the idea. “It was such a hit with the staff and families that we can’t imagine a Halloween going by without our favorite trick-or-treaters now!”
For the last 8 years, Murphy and her team have spent the weeks leading up to Halloween crafting handmade costumes for their tiniest patients, ensuring every baby from micro-preemies weighing less than one pound to infants weighing upwards of 10 pounds are in on the fun if their parents agree.
Check out the baby gallery!
This sweet fn takes a team
As the hospital’s volunteer Halloween costume organizer, we asked Murphy about what she and her team of nurses call their annual “labor of love.” Here’s what she had to say:
Seattle’s Child (SC): NICU nurses are a special group. What keeps you and your colleagues going?
Jode Murphy: The NICU is just a special place. There is such a range of care given, from very critically ill to healthy and just learning the last few things before going home. Our patients are the tiniest in the hospital and really require us to be on top of our game, noticing all of their subtle changes and advocating for them. I can’t imagine working anywhere else.
SC: It looks like this project takes time. How do you do it?
Murphy: All of this is done voluntarily, on our own time, with our own supplies and money.
NICU nurses are generally known for being crafty. Anything that we can do to put a smile on the parents’ faces and help create memories and document milestones makes us happy. Creating these costumes and bringing a little fun to the unit helps take some of the seriousness away from the day-to-day in the hospital.
All of us love seeing the cute outfits everyone comes up with;; you get to see a different side of your ‘coworkers’ brains at work!
Batman rides again (Photo by Cait Zerr)
SC: How have parents responded?
Murphy: I think the parents get a little sense of normalcy in a very abnormal environment. None of them pictured their birth story and their babies’ first days, weeks, or months inside a hospital. To be able to participate in a little fun allows a break from such a high-stress environment.
By providing custom costumes and photos to each family, I hope the babies can look back and know how much they were loved and celebrated while in our care.
SC: How do you all come up with the costume designs?
Murphy: Everyone has different ways. Some people really enjoy creating things from scratch; others put together costumes using other things like pet costumes, doll props, or Build-A-Bear outfits. Of course, Pinterest, TikTok, and Instagram all have a wealth of inspiration.
We always have some general repeats: pumpkins, butterflies, flowers, doctors and nurses, mermaids. But we have some niche ones each year based on pop culture at the time. Sometimes parents get involved, request certain ideas,, and then a nurse brings them to life.
Ladybug baby (Photo by Cait Zerr)
SC: What do you do with the costumes after Halloween?
Murphy: The family gets to take them home to keep. We store the ones that don’t get used in a tote in my garage until the next Halloween. Some years we run pretty low and other years we have a lot left over. It really depends on our census at the time and how ambitious our team is about costume-making that year. For example, at the beginning of the month this year, we thought we were running a little low. We put out an SOS to the staff, and the next thing I knew, our bin was overflowing!
SC: Tell me about one special baby? What was their costume?
Murphy: Two of my favorites were actually back in 2023. One baby that comes to mind wasn’t a costume that I personally made. Her primary nurses collaborated with the mom to create the cutest, tiniest Princess Peach costume so she could match her big brother, who was dressing up as Mario. It was special because the costume was adorable and the family was so happy. That same year, I made a Taylor Swift/Travis Kelce combo for a set of boy and girl twins, with a blonde wig and a mustache that was cute and funny.
SC: How do you get them all made?
Murphy: Everyone pitches in! Some people like to make a bunch,, and some choose one baby and focus on making that one costume. Some people don’t feel crafty, but they contribute by buying felt, craft supplies, and accessories.
We even have one nurse whose daughter’s college women in STEM group volunteers and has a craft day and ships costumes to us. The first year, a very small group made them all, and it’s grown into lots of people working together.
SC: The photos are such a wonderful keepsake. How do those get done?
Murphy: One of the coolest parts is that we also happen to have a couple of nurses who are talented photographers. They graciously donate their time and talent, come in, and take and print pictures of every baby whose parents want a photo. Cait Zerr has been taking photos from the beginning, and Mercedes Schenk stepped in last year to help out. We are lucky to have them both as nurses and the unit paparazzi!
