Connect

This is the latest installment in our Connect article series “Hope at Work” — showcasing inspiring stories about how our team members contribute to UVA Health’s 10-year strategic plan: “One Future Together Health and Hope for All.” No matter where you work, you have an opportunity to inspire hope in others. These stories show how:

Compassion and Initiative

In labor and delivery units, where joy and sorrow often coexist, nurses are finding ways to offer comfort to families during their darkest moments. At UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center, that comfort now comes in the form of a small, weighted teddy bear — thanks to the compassion and initiative of one nurse, Leah Pearson, RN. 

Leah first learned about the bears on a labor and delivery forum she and many of her colleagues follow to stay connected with trends, tips, and industry support. The post shared how a nurse in Washington state had started giving handcrafted teddy bears to grieving families, helping them cope with the unimaginable loss of a baby.

In the United States, approximately 21,000 babies are stillborn each year — about one in 175 births resulting in stillbirth — according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Teddies for Tinies

Moved by the idea and recognizing a similar need in her own unit, Leah reached out to the Washington state-based nonprofit Teddies for Tinies to see if she could replicate the gesture at UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center. 

Leah brought with her a deep well of experience in neonatal care. She spent six years as a NICU nurse at UVA Health University Medical Center before joining UVA Health Culpeper, where now, she has served for eight years in the Family Birth Center. Her years of caring for fragile newborns have given her a profound understanding of the joy of new life and the heartbreak of loss — an understanding that fuels her passion for meaningful bereavement support. 

The nonprofit was founded by a labor nurse, Raeli Korzeniecki, RN, and her coworkers at MultiCare Good Samaritan Hospital in Puyallup, Washington. There came a day the hospital ran out of bereavement teddy bears, and she and her colleagues created an Amazon Wishlist and began sharing it online. Within days, the donations poured in — more than 800 bears from across the country.

Soon, the initiative expanded beyond her hospital, and she began distributing the bears across Washington State. When Leah contacted Raeli, offering to pay for shipping, the nonprofit responded with generosity: donors had already stepped forward to cover shipping costs, ensuring the bears could reach Virginia at no charge. 

With support from Molly Stolar, MSN, RN, Nurse Manager, Family Birth Center, Leah brought the idea to life just two months ago. The hospital had already maintained a bereavement closet of handmade items — crocheted cradles, tiny hats and blankets — and now, Teddies for Tinies bears. 

Deeply Committed

These aren’t just ordinary stuffed animals. Each bear is carefully weighted with sand or fishing weights to match the approximate weight of the baby that was lost. For grieving parents, that weight can mean everything. “After we send them home, we’ve had moms tell us they sleep with them," says Leah. “It’s a physical reminder, but still …” 

The unit’s nurses are committed deeply to honoring each baby’s memory. They go above and beyond — creating hand and foot molds, taking imprints, and when possible, working with Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, a nonprofit that offers remembrance photography for families. The effort is both personal and shared; while the hospital has a bereavement team, the entire staff takes part in supporting these families. 

“We already have a bereavement protocol,” Leah says. “We make foot and handprints, sometimes even molds of the feet. We’ll take a hair clipping — anything that the family can take with them to remember their child. But the bear, especially when it’s weighted to match their baby’s birth size, is completely different. It’s something they can physically hold and carry. It gives them something to cling to — when their arms otherwise would be empty.” 

Lifeline of Love

“I think the process helps the nurse as well,” Mollie adds. “Providing the bears is a way to offer comfort not only to the families, but also to the caregivers who walk with them through such profound loss.”

In our area, though currently available only at UVA Health Culpeper Medical Center, the hope is that the partnership with Teddies for Tinies will continue to grow. When supplies begin to run low, the nonprofit will resupply the hospital, ensuring no family leaves with empty arms. 

Leah’s outreach turned a touching idea into a transformative reality for her hospital. What started with one nurse’s question has now become a lifeline of love and remembrance — one teddy bear at a time —providing hope at work.