Black woman gets joyful surprise when hospital gives her a basket of products for her natural hair

It is the little things that make a huge impact. The staff at a hospital made Katherine Lane feel seen when they gave her a basket full of the correct hair care products that she would usually use at home. Lane, who goes by the username on @the_kitchen_drawer on TikTok, shared the details on the platform.

"Tell me why I'm in the hospital and asked for a comb, just so I could put my hair in some braids. You know what they brought me back?" Lane asks in a video. "He brought me back all [this] stuff, what hospital you know gonna bring you a bonnet?"

The basket was full of different hair care products that Black women usually need for their textured hair. The people behind the gesture really did think of everything and included leave-in conditioner, shampoo, a hair pick, a hard brush, a detangling comb and a durag in the basket. The kind gesture by the hospital staff has gained people's appreciation on the platform. The video has garnered over 152.3k views and 27.7k likes.

Many women in the comments agreed that this was a great initiative by the team at the hospital and that every hospital should do the same. @brwnsugaa82 wrote, "I would've felt so seen." @auntamanduh pointed out, "Just saw a news story about this - how hospitals are now acknowledging the different hair needs in hospitals. Nurses getting trained to braid hair too." @aprilward505 added, "Girl, you hit the jackpot! That hospital is dope!"

More hospitals in the country are working towards providing personal care products that Black women can use. There is an initiative in New York called the Crown Hair Project, which is "an innovative patient care program that provides a wide array of hair care products to serve the health system's diverse patient population." When the Patient Care Director at New York Presbyterian (NYP), Felicia C. Alleyne, MSN, reached out to The Dalio Center for Health Justice, it sparked an idea to come up with the project.

"We set out to create a travel-sized hair care bundle, including a comb, that offered clear instructions on Black hair management and could be easily stored in the hospital," Alleyne told 21Ninety. "We worked closely with hospital staff on education, storage and tracking consumption so we could adjust any quantities. This Crown Hair Program is a celebration of Black hair and a normalization of our hair. Hair in the Black community can be a sensitive subject, as it is closely associated with beauty, acceptance, self-esteem, self-image, community identity, and even political action. Like any other social change in which the root of the issue may have started in one community, the true lessons and gifts are for all of humanity. We are free to be our truest selves, especially at NewYork-Presbyterian."