A Quarter Century of Cuddles from One Palo Alto Senior

For the last 25 years, Adelle Rosenzweig has been a stand-in mother to hundreds of newborns at Stanford University’s Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. Twice a week, she volunteers as a “cuddler” in the NICU and other nurseries where she offers unconditional comfort and reassurance to the infants and their families.

“It could be I spend my entire time with one baby,” said Rosenzweig from her home at nearby Moldaw Residences in Palo Alto. “Every three-hour shift is different – no babies, or one, two or even three different ones.”

Rosenzweig says often the newborns she visits have parents who work or have other young children that prevent them from being at the hospital full-time. Others may have been flown in from various parts of the state or, in rare cases, have been given up by their parents.

“Holding and cuddling is so important for the neurological development of babies,” she added.

While a lot has changed in the last quarter-century – shifts to electronic charts and records, and only one nurse remaining who was there when she first started – Rosenzweig says the importance of volunteers, and the support they offer, have not.