The neonatal intensive care unit at WellStar Cobb Hospital in Austell — equipped with the latest technology and an expert staff — gives the smallest and sickest babies a better chance at life.

Still, it's a scary place for parents. The sight of their babies hooked to tubes, monitors and oscillators is not the image that parents envisioned when they dreamed about having children.

Barry Williams/Special (ENLARGE)

La Shay Ogunwale reads to her daughter, La Shaunti, in the neonatal intensive care unit at WellStar Cobb Hospital in Austell.

"We see families after things have not gone as planned. Parents are overwhelmed and feel like so much is out of their control," said Marynell Lewis, director of Women and Children's Services at WellStar Cobb Hospital. "Our bedside nurses do a lot of educating families about what is going on and what they can do for their baby.

A strong parent/infant bond is such an important factor in a good outcome for each baby. We know it makes a difference."

As soon as the babies are stable enough, the NICU staff at WellStar Cobb promotes "kangaroo care," when parents hold babies skin-to-skin against their chests to bring comfort and warmth to infants and parents. Mothers also are encouraged to pump their breast milk so that it can be fed to their babies.

"We explain to parents that their touch and their voices are different than ours," said Lewis, RN, BSN, MS. "The baby knows the sound of their voices from being in utero, and the voice is an important part in establishing a parent/child relationship.

"We do a lot for their babies while they are in the hospital. What we want [parents] to do is to come to be moms and dads."

Parents should find it easier to bond at WellStar Cobb and other hospitals, thanks to a new March of Dimes NICU bedside reading initiative. As part of its NICU family-support program, the March of Dimes has placed carts with children's books in 28 hospitals in Georgia.

"One of our vice presidents heard about the program and sent me the application to fill out," Lewis said. "I didn't know what to expect, but we received a sturdy library cart and about 350 new children's books for parents and siblings to read to their newborns. Some of the books are in Spanish to match our patient population."

The cart comes with a magnetic sign that includes reading tips, telling parents about the unique gift they can give to their babies by reading to them in a soothing voice and urging parents to watch for their babies' responses.

"We have an open-door, family-oriented policy in our NICU, where siblings and grandparents may visit with parents, and we have curtains between incubators to give them as much privacy as possible," Lewis said.

Although some parents bring books from home, having a ready-made library makes it easier for families to bond.

"When we put the books out, the nurses had a great time reminiscing about favorites that they had read to their children," Lewis said. "We're all looking forward to hearing 'Ten Little Monkeys Jumping on the Bed' again."