Hospital holds graduation ceremonies for premature babies - and the photos are adorable

Each family goes home with a portrait of their NICU preemie grad

A hospital, which cares for premature babies is holding graduation ceremonies for little ones that are healthy enough to go home, and the photos are guaranteed to make you smile.

University graduation season might just be getting started on this side of the pond but for over in North Carolina, they’re already in full swing.

Because at CaroMont Regional Medical Centre, Neonatal nurse Melissa Jordan and her colleagues are holding mini graduation ceremonies for babies who were born at six weeks or more premature.

Newborn’s who are admitted to the NCIU are fed, cared and loved for until they are well enough to go home.

And when the babies are finally discharged Jordan and her staff award them their very own personalised graduation cap and photo.

Made out of foam sheets and available in a variety of colours, each cap comes with the message, “X days behind me, a whole lifetime in front of me,” with the number of days they spent in intensive care.

A scheme that started after the hospital spent time with a baby who was born at just 29 weeks, Jordan says that they knew it was something they wanted to keep doing for other families.

It has been so successful that the staff at CaroMont have started an on-going graduation programme with 14 graduates so far – including three sets of twins.

“Leaving the NICU can be joyful but also scary and nerve-wracking, so this was our way of bringing a little normalcy to taking the baby home,” Jordan told BuzzFeed.

“When I started the program, I called Bella Baby Photography — they take pictures of all our babies going home — and asked if they could come photograph the NICU grads, and the photographer actually offered to give these pictures to the parents free of charge.”