What if there were a simple way to tell new parents how important it is to talk to their babies?

A nonprofit in Martin and St. Lucie counties has been working for nearly 20 years to do just that with a BRAIN Bag.

Building Readiness Among Infants Now (BRAIN) that stresses the power of words in the brain development of babies and gives parents the tools and understanding to harness that power.

The contents of a BRAIN Bag. Photo credit: Shannon Nickinson

It started with hospitals, says Kathy Derringer, vice president of Baby Steps.

Baby Steps manages the BRAIN Bag program under the umbrella of Helping People Succeed, an agency that coordinates an array of services for children in those two central Florida counties.

“It is an extension of the hospital, labor-and-delivery experience,” Derringer said. “It is mentioned in prenatal classes and it is mentioned by a nurse in the hospital before the mom and baby leave.”

New moms get a home visit from a registered nurse in the first week after the baby is home.

It’s a health-and-safety visit to make sure mom and baby are doing well, to reinforce the importance of breastfeeding, to make the baby has a safe place to sleep and to make sure moms who need additional help know where to go in the social service network to get it.

Derringer says those visits reach 97 percent of newborn parents in Martin and St. Lucie counties — that’s the families of 3,092 babies born in 2015.

At the end of that visit, the nurse asks if they can visit again in two months.

That’s when the BRAIN Bag comes in, along with a developmental specialist who will spend at least an hour to 90 minutes talking about the importance of talking and reading to babies.

The spoken word is critical to an infant’s brain growth. But many parents don’t understand its power — which puts their children at a disadvantage.

Children who are exposed to fewer words develop their own language skills more slowly, come to school behind their peers whose families talked more with them and are at-risk for staying behind throughout their school lives.

Derringer says those specialists made 2,400 BRAIN Bag visits last year — reaching about 78 percent of those new families.

To try to reach the families who don’t agree to the two-month visit, Derringer says staff must document attempts to contact every family — through at least two phone calls, a text and a postcard.

“What’s in the BRAIN Bag is the core of what we talk about during that second visit,” Derringer says.

The contents of a BRAIN Bag. Photo credit: Shannon Nickinson

It has:

— A book, which opens the conversation about the importance of reading to a baby every day.

— A lullaby CD, which opens the conversation about how music can stimulate a baby’s brain and how important a regular, relaxing bedtime routine helps set sleep patterns that are healthy for babies — and parents.

— A rattle, which opens the conversation about how important it is to play with your baby, to be in the moment and focused when you are together and critical importance of good parent-child interaction.

— A letter from the school district superintendent, congratulating the family on the addition of a member of the class of 2033 and the importance of reading to that little would-be graduate for 20 minutes every day.

— Tips on how to deal with crying babies.

— A voter registration packet and a letter from the supervisor of elections, which opens to the door to even role-modeling how to be a good citizen for your baby.

“The most important message is they have what it takes to be that baby’s best and first teacher,” Derringer says. “It’s about the relationship between the parent and child and what a difference that relationship can make.”

The visits are for families in every income bracket.

“When we go to visit doctors who’ve had babies, for example, staff get nervous,” Derringer says. “But what we found was they say is, ‘Thank you. We didn’t learn this stuff in medical school.’

The visits are followed up with a questionnaire sent every six months by mail or email with developmental milestones by age for babies to meet.

“As long as they continue to participate we keep that line of communication open,” she said.

The Martin County BRAIN Program has a $300,000 budget with $150,000 of that for nurses, $15,000 to $20,000 covering BRAIN bag materials, the rest is staff, operating, and administrative.

The St. Lucie costs, Derringer says, are comparable. Funds from United Way and the Children's Service Council cover most of the costs.

The materials for the BRAIN bags are often in-kind or donated by civic groups and foundations. Spots for sponsor logos are on the bags.

It may seem like a small thing.

It may seem like common sense.

But in the joyful and overwhelming first few months when you are a parent, little things mean a lot.

Knowing that you live in a community that thinks enough of you — and your baby — to take a couple of hours out of the day to make sure you have the tools you need to start building a better reader, could be invaluable.

That is more than just a small thing. It is a loud and proud statement about what we value.

And how far we are willing to go to prove it.