UAMS NICU

09/10/2026

📚💙The NICU Read-a-Thon is almost here...
September 14–24!

This special celebration is all about the joy of reading and the important role early literacy plays in a child’s development. Even during a NICU stay, sharing books, talking, singing, and connecting through stories can help support babies’ developing brains and strengthen the bond between babies and their families. ❤️

📚 Have a special Read-a-Thon memory from years past? Share it with us in the comments below!

📖 Learn more about this year's events: https://nicureadathon2026.my.canva.site/

🎶 If your baby is currently in the UAMS NICU, don’t forget to sign up for Storytime Serenade!

Something special is just around the corner… 👀📚

08/29/2026

FIVE years.
1,278 BOOKS.
And a whole lot of LOVE.

We are so grateful to the Verdier family for continuing to turn Oliver’s NICU story into a beautiful tradition bringing comfort, connection & joy to so many other NICU families!
Thank you, Oliver, Chelsea & Chris, for spending the day with us & for sharing your story & this incredible book drive with our NICU families!

08/26/2026

Today, we remember a woman whose love for children and books has touched millions of lives.

UAMS has been honored to participate in Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library, helping bring the joy and lifelong benefits of reading to children and families in our community. Her belief that every child deserves the opportunity to grow up surrounded by books is a legacy that continues to inspire us.

Thank you, Dolly, for helping make a difference—one book, one child, and one family at a time. ❤️📚

08/02/2026

Every NICU family has a story. Every story deserves to be heard.

If your family's journey included a stay in the UAMS NICU, we'd love to invite you to join our Family Experience Council. By sharing your experiences, ideas, and perspectives, you can help shape the future of family-centered care and make a lasting difference for future NICU families.

Interested in learning more?

📧 [email protected]

07/23/2026

Just a few steps to such a great resource for our families! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼

07/21/2026

Our Favorite Day!! 👏🏼🥰
Make sure to join us next year!

Gently blowing bubbles flanked the entrances to the Civitan Pavilion at the Little Rock Zoo as former neonatal preemies and their families attended a May 2 reunion with their providers from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).

07/15/2026

😍😍😍

05/27/2026

Sharing a sweet former patient & UAMS NICU Graduate, Oliver, & his annual birthday project! 💙
With Oliver’s 5th birthday quickly approaching, we wanted to kickstart our book drive for the NICU at UAMS Hospital.

🌟 Our WHY: Oliver was born at 28 weeks and for the first two and a half weeks of his life Chris and I weren’t allowed to hold him, he was just too fragile. During that time the only thing we could do was sit next to his isolette and read to him. It gave us a sense of normalcy and it gave us something to do as a family. During all of the uncertainty of our situation, reading to Oliver gave us hope and it allowed us to escape the trauma that we were going through. Our son spent 83 excruciatingly long days in the NICU and now we’ve made it our mission to give back each year on his birthday. To date, we’ve raised over 1,000 books and almost 300 octopals in the last four years in Oliver’s honor.

We hope these books will give parents the opportunity to spend quality time with their children. And by reading, we hope their voice will carry over the loud machines, beeping and chaos. We also hope the words on the pages will bring both the parents and their babies the same peace that it brought us.

🌟How you can help: Purchase books from our amazon wishlist https://www.amazon.com/registries/gl/guest-view/EA1RDJMJHDOR?ref_=cm_sw_r_mwn_ggr-subnav-share_5RJO3OCI50ECR88DNYD7&language=en-US 📚 Books will be donated to UAMS NICU in September to kick off their Read-A-Thon.

As Oliver grows up we want him to be a bright light in the world. We want him to know that no matter how dark the world may seem, he can do good and inspire others to do the same. Our little passion project that we dreamt up one night during our own NICU stay has now turned into a yearly charity drive with donors over multiple states. Family members, friends, and strangers alike all come together with one goal in mind, to give back. None of this would be possible without the support from our family and friends! Thank you for loving us and rooting for us.

Love,
Chelsea, Chris and Oliver

05/14/2026

The BEST NICU!! 🤍🙌🏻🧡

05/08/2026