When it comes to the holidays, Labor and Birth staff deliver 

On Dec. 3, staff with Yale New Haven Hospital’s Labor and Birth department continued their tradition of handing out gift bags to kids at the holiday tree-lighting event at Kimberly Square in New Haven’s Hill South neighborhood. Every year, the department collects gifts for the event, which this year served around 150 local families. The YNHH team also provided gift cards for parents, along with hot cocoa and treats. This year, they got some help from Santa, who arrived on a special “sleigh” courtesy of the heroes at the New Haven Fire Department. Labor and Birth team members included (l-r): Tracy Wittreich, certified nurse midwife; Taylor Balisciano, RN; DeMarcus Newton, business associate; Nicole Starno, RN; Melanie Tracz, RN; Amy Onofrio, RN; Pamela Delerme, certified nurse midwife; and Aliah Fonteh, MD, ob-gyn resident. Their helper elves were Parker Balisciano and Michael Starno.