USF Nursing students help facilitate Baby Shower for mothers and babies in NICU at TGH

Students from University of South Florida College of Nursing helped put together a Baby Shower for mothers and their premature babies at Tampa General Hospital’s (TGH) Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU).The event was held on World Prematurity Day, Nov. 17, 2012.

USF Nursing baccalaureate students including Rebecca Koerner, Emma Adams, and Carly Territo helped raise money to provide gifts for mothers and babies in NICU through Bulls for Babies, a USF organization established in Sept. 2011. Bulls for Babies worked with organizations planning the event including Mommies Little Miracles, the March of Dimes, and Hillsborough Healthy Start to allow NICU families to have a baby shower.

During the Baby Shower, more than 20 mothers had the chance to receive many gifts including scrapbooks, bath time sets, play sets, picture frames, blankets, and other baby necessities.

Since its beginnings, Bulls for Babies has worked with the March of Dimes to help raise money and awareness for premature babies on the USF campus. Koerner and Adams created Bulls for Babies. The organization currently has four nursing students and two pre-nursing students.

“Bulls for Babies is very important to me because I have a special place in my heart for premature babies,” Koerner said. “My mother was a Neonatal Nurse Practitioner, and that is where my drive to be a nurse began. I would love to follow in her footsteps and work with premature babies as well, and I think it is very important to help those little ones and their families as much as possible. I cannot imagine what it must be like to have a baby in an Intensive Care Unit, and I want to do everything I can to help those families and Bulls for Babies seemed like a perfect fit.”

Throughout 2012, Bulls for Babies has helped raise money and awareness through fundraisers and other related events. “We have donated onesies made by our members as well as handmade blankets and bonnets,” Koerner said. “We have also made ‘name plates’ which go on their babies incubators to make their room feel a little more ‘home-y’ instead of just a hospital room.”

Bulls for Babies will continue to make a difference in 2013. The organization along with other USF organizations will team up to participate in the March of Dimes’ March for Babies walk as “USF Team.” in April. “I believe if we all join together, we could make a really big impact by getting more participants and raising more funds than if we all did it individually,” Koerner said.