Scottsbluff, Neb., – When Regional West Perinatal Clinical Resource Nurse Ramona Giles delivered a copy of Beatrix Potter’s “Peter Rabbit” to Jess and Morgan Wimmer on May 18, it marked a milestone: The Wimmer’s newborn daughter, Gwen Elizabeth, was the 6,000th baby to receive a book from the Cradle Catchers program. 

The Cradle Catchers program began in January of 2008 as a collaborative effort of educators in the Theta Chapter of Delta Kappa Gamma Society, Lied Scottsbluff Public Library, Regional West Medical Center Birth and Infant Care Center, and the Panhandle Library System.

The Cradle Catchers program promotes the belief that reading to a baby sets the stage for a lifetime of literacy and that children become readers when their parents read to them. The goals of the program include encouraging parents to read to their babies; increasing awareness of the importance of taking children to the library at an early age; and educating parents of the correlation between reading to a child and school success.

As part of the Cradle Catchers program, each baby born at Regional West Medical Center receives a yellow “Read to Me” book bag stocked with a rhyming board book, a brochure on the importance of reading, an alphabet/number bilingual bookmark, and an eye care chart. The bag also includes a card listing libraries in the Panhandle and a coupon to take to their local library for a free “Read to Me” sippy cup. The librarians then have an opportunity to orient parents to their local library and the programs they offer for children and families.

“The Birth and Infant Care Center is proud to be a part of this program,” said Connie Rupp, director of Regional West’s Birth and Infant Care Center. “Programs like Cradle Catchers are a great opportunity to provide a service to new mothers.”

For more information or to donate to the Cradle Catchers program, please contact: Delta Kappa Gamma, Attn: Marcia Schlichtemier, PO Box 192, Scottsbluff, NE, 69363.

Regional West Health Services in Scottsbluff, Neb., is the parent company of Regional West Medical Center, a 182-bed regional referral center and one of three Level II Trauma Centers in the state. As the region’s only tertiary referral medical center, Regional West offers care that spans more than 32 medical specialties provided by over 28 physician clinics. With nearly 300 providers, and over 2,000 employees, Regional West provides comprehensive and innovative health care services for the people of western Nebraska and the neighboring states of Colorado, South Dakota, and Wyoming.