A group of volunteers are spreading their love and care to babies at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Lincoln, Nebraska.
The program was established in 2010, after the hospital opened up a unit specifically to care for infants and young children in need, according to ABC News.
“When these kiddos are here without their family members, it’s nice to know that the baby rockers are here for them,” Jody Macke, a nurse therapist in Madonna’s pediatric unit, told ABC News. “We see a lot of children who have sustained head injuries for a variety of reasons. So when the babies are fussy and irritable, it helps when the baby rockers are there. It helps in their recovery.”
Volunteers spend two-hour shifts with the infants and toddlers who are battling traumatic brain injuries, heart problems and other medical ailments, according to the Lincoln Journal Star.
“I absolutely love it,” volunteer Bess Jensen, 73, told ABC News. “I won’t give that up for anything. If they are a ward of the state, we rock them all the time. But we don’t always have a baby in the hospital, so it’s not an everyday thing. I am the first volunteer that rocked babies.”
While the children ages 2 and younger are the ones showered with love and affection, the volunteers also get something out of the experience: a relaxation and peace of mind that comes with helping others.
“You come here and you just forget about what’s happening at home,” said Jensen, who has been a volunteer at the hospital for more than six years. “I walk in and I say, ‘Where’s my baby?’”
Click here to learn more about becoming a volunteer at the Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital.
