Sam Jansen’s daughter Mackenzie weighed "less than three blocks of butter" — 1.3kg — when she was born 10 weeks prematurely on December 19 last year.
Mackenzie was taken straight to the Dunedin Hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit (Nicu) after her birth.
Now, Ms Jansen is backing "Neonatal November" — a campaign run by The Little Miracles Trust to stock Nicus with books for parents to read to their children.
While in the unit, Ms Jansen’s favourite thing to read to her daughter was Fox in Socks, by Dr Seuss.
She said being in an incubator was "frazzling" for babies and hearing their parent’s voices could be soothing.
"I went into spontaneous pre-term labour at 30 weeks ... we were rushed to the hospital within three minutes and as soon as we got there, she popped straight out."
Once in the Nicu, the nurses and doctors were "just fantastic".
"I’ve heard that the Dunedin Nicu is the best in the country."
Pregnant again and moving to Hawke’s Bay, Ms Jansen said she was sad she would not have the Dunedin Nicu on hand, if needed.
The Little Miracles Trust chief executive Dr Sarah Rusholme said around 5000 babies in New Zealand were born prematurely every year — and roughly 1 in 10 would stay in the Nicu.
She said the trust was aiming to be able to add libraries in units across the country.
"A $30 donation buys around one book, with additional funds going towards the trust’s cot-side support in every New Zealand neonatal intensive care unit."
The idea was backed by international research which said that babies who regularly heard their parents’ voices display stronger neurological and language development.
