A GROUP of women spent a day crocheting tiny hats for premature babies in a bid to raise awareness of an ailing cafe designed for mothers.

Baby friendly Yummy Mummys, on Wimborne Road in Winton, is set to close at the end of April if it does not find new financial backers.

Crochet expert Jamii Carmen Prince, who volunteers at the cafe, said she was keen to highlight the plight of the cafe and also use her skill to help premature babies.

“We worked non-stop for five hours,” she added. “The cafe has been struggling and I wanted to help.

“We had a lot of wool left over from a project I did at Bournemouth and Poole College last month and we managed to make 50 hats.”

Newborn 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. 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.

“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 volunteer, who gave birth to daughter Amber in the Haven suite at Poole Hospital last year, said she wanted to give something back for the excellent care she received.

As well as Poole, she also plans to donate hats to Bournemouth, Southampton and Salisbury hospitals. Since having her child, Ms Prince said the cafe has become a great haven for her and is upset it plans to close.

She added: “My daughter is half Polish and we attend a language class together and are able to meet other mums and children. I really hope it can be saved.”

Yummy Mummys owner Kasia Mistrzak said running the cafe had always been her dream.

She added: “It’s great to have people like this around who help without expecting anything in return.”