The Studies

Reading to Preemies in the NICU:

Benefits of reading to your Preemie in the NICU

When newborn babies require treatment in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), their parents are often overwhelmed and find it hard to interact with them. Encouraging parents to talk to their babies can help promote closeness, but the stress of the NICU can make this difficult. Reading from a book, on the other hand, helps parents feel close to their babies, according to a recent study in the Journal of Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics. It also helps parents feel more in control of their situation and promotes future reading.

benefits of Preemies Hearing their MOther's Voice

Moms-to-be often chat and coo to their babies before birth. But when babies arrive prematurely, they’re whisked off to an incubator where they hear mostly hospital noises. A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences finds that hearing a mother’s voice develops the preemies brain.

Closing the socioeconomic gap through NICU reading

Families can benefit from the education, positive reinforcement, and resources provided by programs such as ‘Babies and Books,’ working to narrow the gap in social and economic disparities, improving the parent and patient experience during and beyond discharge, and potentially providing a neuroprotective benefit for premature infants at high risk for language delay, promoting healthy parent–infant bonding experiences and early literacy practices will be to the benefit of our patients, their families, and our communities at large.

The Importance of Family Engagement in the NICU

The Journal of Perinatology published a paper concluding that family involvement is a key to realize the potential for long-lasting positive effects on physical, cognitive and psychosocial development of all babies, including those in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Family-centered developmental care (FCDC) recognizes the family as vital members of the NICU health-care team. As such, families are integrated into decision-making processes and are collaborators in their baby's care.