On Christmas Day 1985, Santa Claus delivered the most precious of gifts to Barbara Berndt — her first granddaughter.

The newborn was presented to her mother in a Christmas stocking in the hospital in Greenwich, Conn.

Now, a quarter of a century later, Berndt makes Christmas stockings and Santa hats for babies born on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital.

“My granddaughter may not realize it, but I do this in her honor,” Berndt says.

This year, Berndt, with the help of Judy Henshaw, created 15 stockings and caps, which cover the newborn’s head. Babies are presented to their parents in the red stockings that are embroidered with snowflakes, courtesy of Henshaw. The cuff on the stocking also has a place where moms can add their newborn’s name at a later date.

“Everybody loves babies,” Henshaw says. “It adds so much to Christmas to do something for somebody else, especially babies. It gives you that warm, fuzzy feeling inside to know there will be a little one in there, and their mother and dad will be surprised and excited.”

Berndt, who has lived in Moore County for 15 years, has made the stockings for several years. She recruited her friend, Henshaw, to do the embroidery work three years ago.

Last year, Berndt added the Santa hat as a gift for newborns and their parents.

“It’s a mini Santa cap made of polar fleece, so it will be soft on the newborn’s head,” Berndt says.

Berndt begins creating the stockings and caps in early November and usually completes them by early December. The items are then delivered to the hospital, where they must be sterilized before they can come in contact with the newborns.

Berndt and Henshaw also are among 60 volunteers who are members of the Toymakers, a group of volunteers that makes 11 different varieties of stuffed animals that are presented to children throughout the year at the hospital.

“There are bears, camels, ponies, three different kinds of dogs — a Scottie (Scottish terrier), a dachshund and a Snoopy — an elephant and two dinosaurs,” she says. “There is a little bit of everything.”

Last year, the hospital distributed more than 6,500 stuffed animals to children.

Each newborn baby also gets a baby bear — pink for girls and blue for boys. The stuffed animals are made from a soft, baby friendly material.

Abigail Mello, a registered nurse in the women’s and children’s ward at the hospital, knows firsthand how parents “light up” when they see their babies decked out for the holidays.

“Up here, it’s always a joy,” Mello says. “But new parents are even more excited when a child is born on a special day like Christmas.”

Mello says she has witnessed numerous Christmas Day births. On Wednesday, she said there were “four or five” mothers who could have a Christmas baby in 2010.

One new mother, Dalesa Dudley, of Raeford, said the Christmas stocking and Santa cap for her newborn, Mikayla Blue, was a good idea.

“I think it was cute, and it was a surprise,” she said Thursday.

At home, Dudley has a small stocking hanging on the fireplace for her daughter. She plans to replace it with the new stocking given to her by Berndt and Henshaw.

“I can tell her a little story about how she got her stocking,” she says

Hannah Sharpe contributed to this story. Contact Tom Embrey at tembrey@thepilot.com.