When my twins arrived three months early, I faced overwhelming feelings of maternal guilt and helplessness. Their time in the NICU was marked by frequent medical challenges, which limited my ability to bond with them in traditional ways. There were times when I couldn’t even hold them. Yet, amidst this struggle, I discovered that reading became a vital way to connect. I read to them before surgeries, every night before I went home, and even to my son Noah as he passed away due to serious complications.
Research supports what we naturally sense: reading has neuroprotective benefits for infants. When parents read to their babies, it promotes their cognitive, language, and emotional development. This shared experience nurtures closeness, which is crucial for families in the NICU. Engaging in reading not only comforts babies but also empowers parents to be active participants in their child’s care.
Books offer more than just benefits for babies; they also provide significant support for NICU parents. Engaging in shared reading can foster a sense of normalcy amid the chaos of the NICU environment. It creates lasting memories, especially when the stories resonate with their experiences or are familiar favorites from their own childhood.
After Noah’s passing, I longed for ways to keep his memory alive. Reflecting on how reading helped my twins feel comforted during their NICU stay, my family decided to create a giving library at our NICU. We donated thousands of books, ensuring that every family could receive a new book each week during their baby’s hospitalization.
Leading NICUs provide mothers with breast pumps and ensure that preemies have access to human milk; they should equally prioritize providing families with storybooks. Reading together can be a cost-effective strategy to enhance neuroprotective infant care, strengthen parent-baby bonds, and support overwhelmed NICU families. Storybooks should be recognized as essential tools in the NICU, with the potential not only to benefit infants and parents immediately but also to foster lifelong readers. By normalizing reading in the NICU, we can cultivate the habit of daily reading for families.
Having an infant in the NICU is often life-changing, and books can serve as a source of comfort. Reading with my twins helped our family navigate the challenges of their diagnoses and the anxiety of being in the NICU. In our final moments with Noah, we pressed his handprints into his favorite books, which his siblings now enjoy reading, cherishing the connection with their brother.
Recommended Titles for NICU Libraries
To assist NICUs in starting their own libraries, here are some beloved titles:
- Wherever You Are My Love Will Find You, by Sarah Jones
- You Are My I Love You, by Emily Roberts
- The Little Engine That Could, by Lisa Green
- Goodnight Moon, by Clara McCarthy
- All the World, by Anna Wells
- On the Night You Were Born, by Jenna Lee
- The I Love You Book, by Jamie Quinn
- You Are My Sunshine, illustrated by Laura Smith
- The Crown On Your Head, by Lisa Bennett
- Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, illustrated by Emma Clarke
NICUs can launch a giving library by collaborating with their hospital’s child life program, teaming up with family advisory councils, or partnering with local bookstores. Storybooks are a wonderful gift that many are eager to give. NICUs can encourage their communities to donate new books so that their babies and families can benefit from reading.
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Summary:
This article emphasizes the importance of providing books to babies in NICUs as a way to foster bonding between parents and infants. Reading not only offers neuroprotective benefits for babies but also helps parents cope with the trauma of a NICU stay. By creating giving libraries in NICUs, families can receive new books weekly, promoting emotional connection and building memories together.