Rock-a-Bye Babies
Junior League Aids UAB Infants
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Staff from RNICU & CCN: Mercedes Willis, Donna Friday, Ann Agnew, Janice Franklin, Holli Adams, |
A project serving more than 1,500 newborn infants and their families each year, the Rock-A-Bye Babies program steps in when parents of premature infants are released from the hospital before their babies. The Junior
League of Birmingham (JLB) started the program to help the families who rely on the services of UAB’s Critical Care Nursery/Regional Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (CCN/RNICU).
Babies may stay in the RNICU for several days, weeks, or sometimes months. This separation can be devastating for a mother who has already been discharged from the hospital. The JLB volunteers in the Rock-A-Bye Babies program do the simple things every parent would do if he or she were there, including rocking, feeding, and diapering infants; making footprint and memory cards; assisting with parent scrapbooking classes; and taking holiday pictures of each baby. “We greatly appreciate all that the Junior League of Birmingham volunteers do here in the nursery for our families,” says Brandi Duke, UAB CCN nurse manager.
Each volunteer must complete several rigorous training sessions. This training regimen includes a JLB detailed orientation, UAB’s volunteer training program, and UAB’s CCN/RNICU specialized one-on-one, on-site nurse training and evaluation.
“For me, this placement is not just an opportunity to serve the community; it’s an opportunity to serve part of the community that cannot fend for themselves,” says Ginger Carroll, a local attorney and JLB volunteer. “I am blessed each time I go.”
The Junior League not only supports the Rock-a-Bye Babies program through volunteer work, but it also provides financial support for it. The group also contributed to the UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center by giving generously to name the Junior League of Birmingham Director’s Suite, and, most recently, they gave a gift to the UAB Women & Infants Center to name the RNICU Family Room and Play Room.