12-Year-Old Plays Music For Babies In The NICU

12-year-old Isabella Ciriello is using her guitar skills to play music for NICU babies. This talented teen is no stranger to the New York-Presbyterian Komansky Children’s Hospital. Isabella spent months in the newborn intensive care unit after she was born 16 weeks early. Doctors said that she was just on the cusp of viability and they tried to prepare her parents for the worst, but Isabella continued to fight. While she was being treated at the hospital, her doctor put a speaker in her isolette to play music.

Once she was released from the NICU, Dr. Jeffrey Perlman wrote Isabella a ‘prescription’ for music. He recommended that her parents play music for her, including classical tunes such as Mozart. The songs are said to comfort and soothe premature babies.

Nearly 12 years later, this teen is a talented musician playing multiple instruments such as the guitar and piano. Now, she is giving back to the people and place that helped her as a baby and it is absolutely heartwarming. She has been bringing her guitar into the NICU to play for the infants in hopes that the music will give them the same support she had. Isabella said, “I’ve seen some pictures of myself when I was a preemie and it’s really hard to believe that I was that small and fragile. It was important for me because it helped me give back to these babies.” What an inspiring young girl to give her time so selflessly to these babies in need.