Teddy bears to help soothe distressed children at Tauranga Hospital

Teddy bears were delivered to Tauranga Hospital to help soothe distressed children who need to go to the emergency department. Photo/ Amy Diamond

Christmas has come a week early for children at Tauranga Hospital with the arrival of 150 teddy bears.

The teddies, which come in a range of different colours, are to help soothe and calm children who come into the emergency department.

Clinical nurse manager Stephanie Watson said the teddy bears would be beneficial for children and hospital staff.

"The teddies provide a lot of comfort and support for children and are a way of communication for nurses and doctors."

Watson said children would often use their teddy bear to tell hospital staff what happened to them or even point out on the teddy bear where they felt pain.

The teddies are a donation from the charity Teddies For Loving Care and were an ongoing initiative over the next three years.

More than 20,000 colourful teddy bears would be distributed to children around New Zealand. Tauranga Hospital was one of the first to receive its first lot of the cuddly soft toys.

Teddies for Loving Care chairman Tony Mansfield said the initiative was first created in England 15 years ago and New Zealand was the first country outside of Europe to adopt the idea.

Mansfield said a "conscious decision" was made to give the first lot of teddies to smaller regional hospitals in time for Christmas.

"The idea does work, when children are experiencing trauma or are stressed the teddies will calm them down."

The teddy bears have been made to be robust to be pointed and prodded at and are made for children aged 2-7.

The first of the teddies will be handed out to children in need at Tauranga Hospital from today.