Mother Goose on the Loose Goslings program is for parents of NICU babies.

Recently, there has been a shift from an open room NICU model to one of private rooms. While this shift has many benefits, including family-centered care and greater family privacy, it has also brought a new challenge to the forefront; one research study found that premature babies who stay in private rooms sometimes show lower language scores and lower motor scores, at 2 years of age, than premature babies who stay in an open ward. It has been recognized that appropriate interventions to enhance infant language and literacy development are needed to balance the environmental changes. The Goslings program meets this need by providing parent education that supports parental bonding and prepares parents with skills for interpreting their baby’s signals and interacting appropriately with their medically fragile babies while fostering their early language and literacy skills.

This specialized family support program was developed collaboratively by Mother Goose on the Loose, LLC, Port Discovery Children’s Museum, and the University of Maryland Children’s Hospital (UMCH). It is facilitated in the newly built Drs. Rouben and Violet Jiji Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at the UMCH, and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) has been researching the impact of the program.

The initial program was supported by a PNC Grow Up Great^®  grant. Songs to go along with the booklet were recorded by musician Rahel at Betsy's Follies Studio and can be heard by clicking here.

To learn more about Mother Goose on the Loose Goslings, watch this video!