I am so excited to kick off his week with a guest spotlight on Sofie Berga and her amazing resource for kids. I met Sofie at the Child Life Council Conference and was delighted to see her products in the exhibit hall. She is the author and creator of Bastian Adventure books, a series to help children prepare and cope with medical procedures. We obviously had a lot in common and I wanted to share her passion in helping others with you.
Meet Sofie
Sofie Berga is a pediatric registered nurse, a skilled author, creative thinker and mother of two. She has 16 years of hospital experience working with children during diagnosis, treatment and in critical care.
Sofie was born and educated in Copenhagen, Denmark where she lived the first 26 years of her life. She graduated with a bachelors in nursing from Denmark in 1996 and has since become a Certified Pediatric Nurse.
As a mother of two and coming from the land of H.C. Andersen, Sofie is familiar with the imaginary world of children and loves involving them in the treatment process. She currently lives in California with her 2 kids, Sebastian and Natalia.
In 2000, Sofie started a labor of love with her Bastian Adventure books, named after her son Sebastian. The initial inspiration came after taking her son to a simple chest x-ray when he was 2 years old. “He was strapped down with leather belts to his arms and sandbags to his legs, arching and screaming, all because he didn’t know what was happening.”
Medical procedures such as IVs and x-rays can be quite traumatic for small children, and a story book is the perfect tool for parents to bond with and prepare their 2-8 year old child for upcoming procedures. Just as adults receive preparatory materials for procedures, so should children.
It is my intention to do my best to decrease anxiety and stress in the medical setting. These books were developed for all medical professionals and parents to use, especially when we cannot get the help of a child life specialist.
The Bastian Adventure Series has become well known and used within several Children’s Hospitals and just recently the series won the Mom’s Choice Award for being among the best in family centered products and services.
The story format allows for the books to be used in preparation, as a therapeutic communication tool after the procedures or to read with siblings. They are as true to reality as possible and include a parent advice page with tips to parents on how to best help their child or how the procedure might be different in their case.
“I have found that having the parents read the book while calming and bonding with their child, it lessens the anxiety in both parent and child, gives parents a tool to help their child and makes the procedures less traumatic for all involved.” – Sofie Berga
Sofie now has 5 books published covering topics on preparation of an IV, x-ray, CT scan, cast and surgery. They are available as e-books for the Nook, iPad and Kindle. Four of them can also be purchased in print on her publishing website or Amazon.
Contact Sofie to learn more and be sure to follow Bastian Adventure Series on Facebook
We will be giving away a bundle package of Bastian Adventure books to one lucky winner.
Choose one or more ways to enter:
1. Sign up for email notifications at ChildLifeMommy.com and leave comment below
2. Facebook: Follow Child Life Mommy and leave a comment on post
3. Facebook: Follow Bastian Adventure Series and leave a comment about the giveaway
4. Twitter: Follow, Like and RT the post to @ChildLifeMommy
5. Instagram: Follow @ChildLifeMommy, Like and tag a friend in the post
Good Luck! Winner will be chosen 7/2/15
