PREMATURE babies too small to fit into shop-bought hats have been given a helping hand by a group of students in Bournemouth.

Bournemouth and Poole College teamed up with Poole Hospital Charity to make hats for the tiny tots at their Lansdowne campus on Wednesday, February 26.

New born babies have a body surface about three times greater than an adult’s compared to the weight of their body and lose much of their heat through their heads – and when they are born early it can be a struggle to find clothes to fit them as they lie in incubators being monitored for weeks or even months on end.

This prompted crochet expert Carmen Prince to link up with the college and give two groups of students’ intensive tuition on the art before they produced more than 20 hats for Poole’s maternity unit.

“When babies are born so prematurely it is difficult for them to regulate their own body temperature so wearing hats can really help,” said Ms Prince.

“The reason we are doing this is to give a hand to new mothers and help the hospital.”

Ms Prince gave birth at Poole Hospital last year to daughter Amber and was representing the Mum’s Make and Create group from baby friendly cafe Yummy Mummy’s, at Wimborne Road in Winton, where she also volunteers.

“I had my baby in the Haven suite and the midwives, doctors and all the staff were so good to us I just wanted to try and give something back,” she added.

The mother-of-one said the students had picked up the skill quickly and hoped the hospital would now be able to put the headwear to good use.