Premature and sick newborns are at high risk of having neurodevelopmental delays that can affect their language and reading skills, particularly when they are in a neonatal intensive care unit. The University of Alabama at Birmingham and Children’s of Alabama launched the NICU Bookworms reading program in 2021. This program helps reduce these deficits, increase parent-infant bonding and encourage shared reading starting at birth for all babies.
This year, City of Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin joined employees at UAB and Children’s of Alabama to celebrate the five-year anniversary of the program and recognize all that has been accomplished since its establishment. Mayor Woodfin joined families in UAB’s Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit to read to some of UAB Medicine and Children’s of Alabama’s smallest patients.
Since its establishment, the NICU Bookworms program has gained significant popularity among families and continues to expand. The program has served almost 5,000 families and distributed close to 10,000 books since 2021…