The AdventHealth Gordon Foundation Seeks to Boost Early Brain Development

AdventHealth Gordon recently launched a program to inform and equip parents with the knowledge and tools they need to maximize their child’s brain capacity from day one.

A partnership between the AdventHealth Gordon Foundation, the Calhoun-Gordon Community Foundation, Calhoun City Schools, and Gordon County Schools is providing families in Northwest Georgia with an exciting new resource.

Build a Brain, Build a Life, Build a Community® is a program that helps educate parents and caregivers about the crucial role they play in helping to develop a child’s brain and the importance of talk and interaction to fuel healthy brain development in the first three years of a child’s life.

“The Baby Place at AdventHealth Gordon provides the region’s best birthing experience and the Build a Brain program enhances our services to the community and the families who deliver their babies with us,” said Chris Self, president and CEO of AdventHealth Gordon. “This program is the perfect opportunity to partner with several of our community’s stakeholders to collectively invest in the future of our community.”

AdventHealth Gordon is the first hospital in Georgia to offer the Build a Brain program to patients and families.

A key partner in this initiative is the Calhoun-Gordon Community Foundation. “Partnerships are vital to bringing programs like Build a Brian to communities just like Gordon County,” said David Aft, president of the Community Foundation of Northwest Georgia. “The community foundation does a tremendous amount of work behind the scenes partnering with agencies and programs across the region, and we’re always excited to come to the table with a partner like AdventHealth and the school systems as a true win-win for the community.”

Eighty-five percent of a baby’s brain is built within their first three years, and parents play a key role as their child’s first teacher. Build a Brain is built on decades of clinical research and provides a blueprint for optimizing success.

“Words are food for a baby's brain,” said Reatha Clary, director of obstetrical nursing at AdventHealth Gordon. “The key is to educate parents about the importance of beginning to build their newborn’s brain at the earliest possible moment in their life, and our team is excited to partner with Build a Brain to provide the best resources possible.”

Build a Brain® focuses on parent-child communication and how that affects language and vocabulary development. Their mission is to inform parents and caregivers about the role they play, equipping them with the knowledge and tools needed and support them with cutting-edge resources to provide ongoing help.

To learn more information about AdventHealth Gordon’s mother and baby care services, please visit GeorgiaOBExperts.com