Families and staff in Redland Hospital’s Special Care Nursery have shared more than 610 minutes of story time with babies as part of the national Read-a-thon.

From rhymes and lullabies to children’s favourites like Winnie the Pooh, the reading challenge created a special time for our little ones needing extra care.

Neonatal Unit Nurse Hannah Butler Spelzini, said the "read-a-staff" and families loved taking part in the Read-a-thon.

“Reading to our babies is about comfort, bonding and giving families a way to share special time together,” she said.

"Evidence shows that reading to babies helps language and cognitive development. The familiar sound of parent's voices provides comfort and reassurance.

“Together we reached 610 minutes of reading during the month, with parents, siblings and staff all joining in. It was so cute to see the unit filled with stories and smiles.”

New mum Ella-Mae Cardy and little Morgan Mae Jefferies took part in the Read-a-thon together.

“Morgan came early, and we didn’t even get a chance to talk about birth preferences or what would happen, so it was really scary at the start not knowing what was going to happen, but she's doing really well.

“It would have been an awful experience if the staff weren't amazing.

“The Read-a-thon is sweet. Every time someone reads to her, we filled out a little piece of paper, we wrote down the book, the name, the day and everything. It’s a nice keepsake and the babies all get some little books they can keep.

“I cuddle her a lot, but reading is nice, she can hear my voice.”