PARENTS of premature babies at Southmead Hospital are being given free books to encourage them to read to their child through the incubator.

The 'Books for Babies' initiative, launched on Tuesday (September 1), will see parents at the hospital’s Neo-natal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) receive a book which they can read to their baby and help with their development.

Parents of babies born below 30 weeks gestation will receive a Julia Donaldson book as well as guidance from hospital staff and access to a reading room as part of the scheme, which is funded by Southmead Hospital Charity.

Lisa Ramsey, NICU lead nurse for developmental care, is leading the project with Dr Katie Farmer, neonatal registrar.

Ms Ramsey said: “We are always encouraging parents to read or talk to their babies through the incubator, but most feel self-conscious as they are in a difficult environment with machines beeping around them.

“It is a great way for parents to bond with their babies and the sound of their parent’s voices is really important for optimal development.

"So we wanted to make it a part of the culture here on the NICU at Southmead Hospital, to make it the norm so parents see it happening around them.

“Parents often feel that they do not have a role while they are in NICU when their babies are being cared for in incubators but they actually have a huge role, there are many things that they can do that make a real difference.

“Most babies above 30 weeks gestation are generally not in incubators so their parents have much more hands on time.”

£700 was raised for Southmead Hospital Charity to fund the project, by NICU dietician Catherine Turner who did a 400 mile sponsored bike ride in 4 days from Bergerac to Carcassonne in France.

She said: "I am part of a group of cyclists that do a long ride every year to raise monies for each other's charities. I felt that I might be able to help get the 'Books for Babies' started, with any surplus funds going towards breast milk pumps.”

Jane Ibbunson, head of fundraising for Southmead Hospital Charity, said the project is a wonderful example of how a simple gift of a book can make a huge difference to young lives.

“Supporting the parents of premature babies on our NICU in any way we can is really important to us as a hospital charity," she said.

The NICU unit now has enough books for one year but are looking at ongoing fundraising to fund the initiative beyond that.

To donate and help raise money for the project visit southmeadhospitalcharity.org.uk/nicu.