x
Breaking News
More () »

Mom of NICU baby collecting books for Arkansas Children's Hospital

Reading to babies is important to their development. One mom is making sure there are plenty of books for babies at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (KTHV) - The neonatal intensive care unit NICU can be a stressful place filled with beeping monitors, machines going off and doctors and nurses in and out.

An Arkansas mom is hoping to ease the stress for families and babies, one book at a time.

Reading is more than just a hobby for 10-year-old Anna Marie Loften. It's also bonding time for her and her mom, Amy.

“It was actually one of Anna Marie’s first phrases ever, ‘book’ and ‘read,’” said Amy Loften.

It was a love that started earlier than most, inside the neonatal intensive care unit at Arkansas Children's Hospital.

“I had no idea we would ever have to be there,” said Loften.

Anna Marie was born with down syndrome and a rare birth defect called a tracheoesophageal fistula. She spent the first 89 days of her life in the NICU.

“It is a stressful environment because it’s the continual noise of monitors, hearing beeps and alarms and machines, nurses and doctors talking,” explained Loften.

To ease the chaos, Loften started to bring in books to read to her daughter and her daughter responded.

“I know how good it is for them to have normal language instead of medical jargon floating around all the time, but it also gave her something to focus on,” said Loften. “It would bring down everyone’s stress level and her stats would stay great.”

Loften said she knows how important books were to her and her family when her daughter was in the NICU so she is hoping to impact other families through a book drive.

“I put some graphics together and started spreading the word on Facebook and sending messages and I have some people helping me do that,” said Loften.

Pediatrician Carrie Brown says the books will benefit both the caregiver and baby. She said reading has been shown to stimulate brain development and said the earlier the better when it comes to opening a book for the first time.

“In the NICU it's not so much about comprehension or that we except that that newborn is actually using words, but a lot of kids are here with us for weeks, sometimes months, sometimes longer and that bonding that takes place between the parent, the caregiver and the child when a story is being read has been shown to lower children's heart rates and they truly do better,” said Brown.

Loften said she hopes every family can benefit from a book, just like her daughter did so many years ago.

“The thought of bringing that up here is just amazing. The thought of doing that and the joy and knowing that will bless families for a while,” said Loften.

If you are interested in donating a book, Arkansas Children's Hospital is accepting new books only, for health reasons. The hospital especially has a need for baby books.

You can drop them off at the front desk of the hospital. For more information on how to volunteer, click here.

Before You Leave, Check This Out