Weiler NICU Benefits from Student Drives to Provide Books and Baby Goods
This past spring, through a collaborative effort among Einstein’s Pediatrics Interest Group, its chapter of the Student National Medical Association (SNMA), and NICU Cuddling Club, members of the Einstein community donated approximately 500 children’s books and $175 to a special children’s book drive that supported staff at Weiler Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) in providing books to families of newborns. And through October 25, 2018, the same student groups have teamed to hold a baby-goods drive, to collect baby goods such as diapers, wipes, diaper rash cream, baby clothes and receiving blankets that will be useful to the tiny infants’ families.
Infants admitted to a NICU are often born prematurely or present with a health issue of concern when they are born
Weiler’s NICU has 35 beds and, last year, had 700 admissions, according to Dr. Suhas Nafday, associate professor of pediatrics at Einstein and an attending neonatologist at Weiler. Another NICU, at Montefiore/Wakefield, offers 15 beds and sees 350 infants each year.
“Experts in child development recommend reading aloud to babies, citing that it helps them to build listening, memory, and vocabulary skills and to inform them about the world around them,” explained Kristin Williams, president of the SNMA. “Some of the donated books were selected by staff to remain in the NICU waiting room’s library. All others were placed where siblings and parents could go through them, and they were encouraged to take as many as they wanted.”
From left: Kristin Willaims, Rivka Thurm, and Peterson “Kariuki” Maina, all members of the class of 2021, with a bin used to collect books for babies in Weiler’s NICU. They and their classmates are now holding a baby-goods drive.“The books are used in the NICU by parents to read to their babies, and by siblings in the waiting room,” said Dr. Suhas Nafday, associate professor of pediatrics at Einstein and an attending neonatologist at Weiler. “Because we encourage families to take home books they’ve enjoyed, the wonderful contributions from the book drive replenish our supply of books and allow us to continue giving books to patients' families and promoting literacy in our local Bronx community.”
“Family members were so appreciative to receive books for their newborns,” added Rivka Thurm, NICU coordinator for the Pediatrics Interest Group, also known as PIGgy. “I saw one teen-ager whose face lit up as he looked through the books and found several that he would read to his baby sibling. Seeing the effect of our work so directly made the whole project so much more rewarding.”
The new baby-goods drive begins on Friday, October 19, 2018, with students manning a table daily, in the Forcheimer Lobby, between 11 a.m. and 1 p.m., running through Thursday, October 25. At the table, they also will be selling bracelets for $5, with funds raised supporting the NICU. Collection bins for the baby goods will be set up in the lobbies of the housing complex and in the lobby of Forchheimer. Clothing can include socks, which are especially helpful in keeping the feet of young newborns warm.
Posted on: Tuesday, October 23, 2018