Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies

Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies™ is a global campaign to raise awareness about neonatal mortality and to provide handmade hats to newborns in countries where resources are low and need is high.

Each year across the world, 1 million preterm babies die within their first 28 days. Unable to regulate their temperatures, they are vulnerable to hypothermia and even death. Fortunately, you can help. Tiny hats are an easy solution; they give tiny babies a fighting chance! In 2017, knitters and crocheters from Canada, Kenya, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Rwanda, and 45 states across the US contributed 17,000 hats.

The Global Maternal Newborn Child Health Research Cooperative (MNCH Co-op) has partnered with the American Academy of Pediatrics and the Warm Up America! Foundation to bring thousands of tiny hats to tiny babies in low-income countries and help spread awareness of the global epidemic of preterm birth.

Download the Tiny Hats packet for patterns and where to send your finished hats.

2018 Campaign

This year, Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies aims to collect 17,000 hats in honor of World Prematurity Day. Help us meet our goal by Dec. 31, 2018. The Tiny Hats packet will give you all the information you need from knitting patterns to where to send your tiny hats. Whether you are new to knitting or have been doing it for years, join us in helping tiny babies.

2017 Campaign

In September 2017, the East Africa Preterm Birth Initiative, a project of the MNCH Co-op, launched the Tiny Hats for Tiny Babies™ project in partnership with the Warm Up America! Foundation. We began with a goal of 1,117 hats to mark World Prematurity Day on November 17. The response from knitters and crocheters around the world was truly amazing. Contributions came in from six countries (including 45 US states). We collected 16,000 handmade tiny hats. Those hats are now keeping the tiny heads of tiny babies in Africa warm. To learn more about our 2017 campaign, view our photo story below.