On Friday, December 15 at 9:30 a.m. CST, U.S. Rep. Terri Sewell, AL-07, will join UAB Medicine for a ribbon-cutting ceremony and press conference to commemorate the launch of the NICU Bookworm Program book vending machine. Following the press conference, Sewell read a book from the vending machine to the babies in the Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit and the Continuing Care Nursery.
Who: Congresswoman Terri A. Sewell, AL-07; Viral Jain, M.D., Creator of the NICU Bookworm Program; Mitch Cohen, M.D., Chair of the UAB & Children’s of AL Department of Pediatrics
What: UAB NICU Bookworms Book Vending Machine Ribbon
When: Friday, December 15, 2023 | 9:30 a.m. CT
Where: UAB Women and Infants Center — 2nd Floor Atrium, 1700 6th Ave. South, Birmingham, AL 35233
Premature and sick newborn infants have an increased risk for neurodevelopmental deficits, including in language and reading. UAB and Children’s of Alabama launched the NICU Bookworms program in 2021 to help decrease these deficits, increase parent-infant bonding and encourage shared reading starting at birth.
The program is expanding with the addition of a new book vending machine. The machine encourages parents to earn tokens through parent-infant activities and education programs to be redeemed for new books.
