We are raising these funds for

The Babies With Books Read-a-thon is a friendly reading competition between NICUs across the globe to encourage shared family reading and improve the NICU experience. This year it is being celebrated between September 9th-19th. The books would be given in local languages as families at Bharati Hospital are competent in Marathi and Hindi.

Infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), term or preterm, are at higher risk for developmental delays, in the future. To reduce the negative impact of the NICU environment and promote healthy brain development, parent involvement in caring for their infants is valuable. Talking to the infants helps them feel safe and secure while being in a stressful environment of the NICU. However, parents are equally worried and find it difficult to talk with their infants. Using books as a mediator gives parents a structure and allows them to relax as they see their infants responding to their voices. Studies have shown benefits of initiating reading in the NICU. Reading books to infants and toddlers from an early age is a proven method to improving language and cognitive skills. Bright colours and sounds of children’s books grab the child’s attention and the interactive nature of reading enhances holistic brain development. 

Bharati Hospital and Research Centre’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) provides evidence-based, globally accepted neonatal management for vulnerable newborns. Our aim is to offer affordable, high-quality care to middle and lower socioeconomic class families. We are the first hospital in India to initiate and participate in the global Read-a-thon for NICU families. We are grateful for your support in setting up our local language library in the unit. Our aim is to encourage parent-child shared reading experience to boost parent attachment and infant engagement and enhance future language skills.