Dozens of volunteers cuddle infants at these Toronto intensive care units. Here’s how the program helps – CTV
January 28, 2026
The day typically starts with Carolyn Acker slipping on a gown, putting on a mask and washing her hands before she steps into the neonatal intensive care unit at St. Michael’s Hospital and asks which infant is in need of a cuddle.
Once a nurse places a baby into Acker’s arms, she will sit down and cuddle the child, and sometimes she will sing or talk to them.
“You’ve got to be very, very careful that you don’t do anything that you’re not supposed to do. This is an intensive care unit, so our role is cuddling, and that’s what we do,” the 75-year-old told CTV News Toronto.
Acker, a retired registered nurse, is just one of 15 volunteers with St. Michael’s infant cuddling program, one of the first of its kind in Canada, which runs daily between the hours of 8 a.m. and 4 p.m. She goes every Wednesday right from when they open until around noon.
“St. Michael’s is an inner city hospital that serve pre-term babies from across the GTA with a diverse range of medical needs, including those impacted by prenatal opioid use,” Marisa Cicero, senior clinical program director of women and children’s health at St. Michael’s Hospital, said in a statement.
