PINEHURST, N.C. – Staff, patients and families of the Clarke Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at FirstHealth Moore Regional Hospital will take part in a friendly competition between NICUs to see which units can read to their patients the most during September.
Promoting Literacy and Bonding in the NICU
Babies with Books is a student-led early literacy organization that creates and supports NICU reading programs. The NICU reading program was first launched at Randall Children’s Hospital in Portland, Oregon. The Clarke NICU at MRH was one of 224 NICUs around the world that participated in the 2024 Read-a-Thon. Collectively, there were 61,054 reading sessions during the 11-day period.
According to neonatal specialists at Moore Regional, reading to premature babies provides many benefits for patients and families alike.
“NICU reading promotes infant brain development, fosters family bonding, and decreases infant and parental stress related to intensive care hospitalization,” said Laura Valleni, M.D., neonatologist at Moore Regional. “We’re thrilled to participate in this program again and further support our NICU babies and their families.”
This year’s read-a-thon is scheduled from Sept. 8-18, 2025, in conjunction with NICU Awareness Month and National Literacy Month.
Clarke NICU’s Ongoing Commitment to Early Literacy
As part of the program, each baby in the NICU will receive a book to keep, accompanied by information on the importance of reading. The number of reading sessions and average daily census during the read-a-thon will be tallied and submitted to Babies with Books.
Since launching Babies with Books in 2022, Moore Regional has established a reading nook with a NICU book library so that books are always available to be read to the babies and help with their development. NICU babies at Moore Regional also receive two books to take home. Additionally, parents are encouraged to sign up for the Dolly Parton Imagination Library. As part of this program, the Moore County Partners for Children and Families generously provides preschoolers in our community with their own Imagination Library and one new book every month until their fifth birthday.
“We’re thankful for the generosity of our community partners to support early literacy,” added Dr. Valleni. “Encouraging early literacy promotes early brain development, family integrated care and bonding while babies are in the NICU. Together, we are creating a positive experience for our families that will have a lasting impact on our youngest patients.”
