Becca Tobin found herself at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, over 4,000 miles away from her home in London. She watched as the medical staff at UAB Hospital rushed her newborn son, Jude, to the Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit.

The holiday season is a time for celebration, but it is also a time for gratitude and thankfulness. This year, three families returned to UAB Hospital and UAB St. Vincent’s to personally deliver a “Gift of Gratitude” to their care team.

Premature and sick newborns are at high risk of having developmental issues that can affect their language and reading skills. UAB Medicine and Children’s of Alabama launched the NICU Bookworms reading program in 2021 to help reduce these deficits, increase parent-infant bonding and encourage shared reading starting at birth for all babies.

UAB Medicine and Children’s of Alabama launched the NICU Bookworms reading program in 2021 to help reduce developmental problems in sick and premature babies, and to increase parent-infant bonding. The program has been a big success for families in the neonatal intensive care units (NICUs) at both hospitals through finding new ways to provide books and encourage shared reading.