UAB Hospital is expanding its Bravery Beads program to include babies cared for in its Regional Newborn Intensive Care Unit (RNICU) and Continuing Care Nursery (CCN) to help parents mark milestones for premature and sick newborns.
Every parent wants to remember all the important moments of their child’s life. Parents of sick newborns want even more to mark all of the significant milestones in their child’s early development. Parents of infants in UAB’s RNICU/CCN will receive a cord with beads that spell out their child’s name. Each time the child undergoes a procedure or treatment, such as tests or surgery, the parents will receive a wooden or plastic bead to add to the cord. Each new bead is unique for a particular medical procedure and will provide an ever-growing record of the child’s treatment and medical history. Organizers say the beads are something that can be put in a baby’s scrap book and reflected upon years later.
UAB’s Bravery Beads program began in November 2005 for older children admitted to UAB in cardiology and transplantation. Find out how you can Help Kids Be Brave.