MEMPHIS, Tenn — There is good news during the COVID-19 pandemic. Take for instance what's happening over at Methodist South Hospital. The Urban Child Institute has started a new pilot program called "Welcome Bluff City Baby" to introduce newborns to reading.
Here we have 'Bluff City Baby' Royalty Hawkins.
When we met Little Royalty she was just two days old and doing, well, what babies do, sleeping.
And at just two days old, Royalty has already been introduced to books by "Bluff City Baby".
"With babies, it's just exposing them to the positivity of books and the excitement of new adventures that you can find inside a book and really the bonding with the parent," said Urban Child Institution Program Officer Katherine Bryan.
It's part of Urban Child's TTRP Program, which stands for: Touch, Talk, Read, and Play.
"The baby says ooh, and you say ooh are you talking to me", said Bryan, "that time touching and sitting on a lap and really feeling safe and loved and comforted...exposing children from the very beginning to the fun of books and the positive things that can come out of taking a book in your hands and sharing some time with them...play, it just stimulates the brain".
As part of the program, new moms get a backpack filled with a "Read to Me" onesie, "Bluff City Baby" bib, diapers, books and a census form to log baby's new existence.
"I like the books", said Royalty's Mother Tiffany Hawkins.
And while it will be years before Baby Royalty begins to read independently, her mom says she started engaging in brain development activities even before she was born.
"I was reading to her and singing to her while she was in my belly", said Hawkins.
And Urban Child Institution officials agree that reading lays the foundation for a baby's future language skills and healthy, social and emotional development.
The hope is to expand this program to other birthing centers in the city.