29/09/2025
What a beautiful initiative that was held recently. 💜
Life St George's Hospital is proud to be the first hospital in South Africa to take part in the international "Babies With Books read-a-thon" initiative, which runs from 8 – 18 September 2025.
During this week our NICU staff encouraged parents and grandparents of premature babies to read storybooks to the preterm babies as much as possible. “Reading to babies has been seen to calm the baby. This can be seen objectively by watching a slowing heart rate and breathing rate, better synchronisation of breathing with the ventilator and a reduction in blood pressure. It has also shown decreased physical cues of discomfort”, says Dr Greg Boden, neonatologist at Life St George’s Hospital.
Click here to watch our Moments that Matter video about Baby Eli's journey in our NICU https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_hgK6gSm6KU. For more information on our NICU services and specialists at Life St George’s Hospital, contact 041 392 6111 or visit our website https://bit.ly/3iTwCdL