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Families with infants in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at Franciscan Health Crown Point now have access to a new mobile lending library, thanks to a donation from the Northwest Indiana Literacy Council. The library, which includes a variety of children's books, was officially donated this week.
Dr. Sharon Pratt, associate professor of elementary and literacy education at Indiana University Northwest and treasurer of the Northwest Indiana Literacy Council, played a key role in the project. Pratt, who has personal experience with premature births, explained the motivation behind the initiative: "We wanted to think about a project that would help families really re-story this experience," she said. "Research shows moms go through post-partum depression at a higher rate when they have a baby in the NICU. Research also shows that reading is a way to calm families and build those family bonds."
The project was partially funded by a $2,500 Transforming Lake County grant from the Legacy Foundation. Bob Spajer, a member of the Legacy Foundation Grant Committee from Crown Point, expressed his support for the initiative: "Reading has been an important part of our family from the minute our boys came home from the hospital," he said. "I believe in the science behind this and the lasting effects it can provide for families and children."
Jennifer Creighton, BSN, RN, NICU Manager at Franciscan Health Crown Point, emphasized the importance of this resource: "Just having something to do, to interact with their babies and kind of make it normal is so wonderful for them," she stated.
Franciscan Health Crown Point partnered with Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children’s Hospital of Chicago in 2022 to enhance its neonatology services. Lurie Children’s neonatologists now staff its 20-bed Level III NICU.
More information about Franciscan Health Family Birth Center Crown Point and its NICU can be found online or by calling 219-757-6330.
