March of Dimes

Emma had another good day today.  She's still tolerating her feeds well.  She did have one more apnea episode today, but it was right after she ate again.  So it could be a reflux problem.  They will keep watching her closely to make sure the frequency of those episodes doesn't increase.  She's up to 2 pounds, 6 and a half ounces today, so a slight gain over where she was yesterday.  But overall she is still doing very well.  Since there's not a whole lot of change to discuss with Emma tonight, I'd like to devote this post to the March of Dimes.

You may have noticed a link on the right hand side of this page for the March of Dimes.  They are a wonderful organization that advocates for children and does amazing research to help prevent premature birth and birth defects.  Their Mission Statement is:  "We help moms have full-term pregnancies and research the problems that threaten the health of babies."  There are many causes of premature birth, and there are many cases where the cause is not known.  A lot of times the doctor and patient will decide together that the child should be born earlier than usual due to potential health concerns of not only the child, but the mother as well.  The March of Dimes has a campaign to encourage doctors and patients to get to 39 weeks gestation, whenever possible.  Obviously there are many exceptions to this, but if it is at all possible and will not cause harm to the mother or the child, 39 weeks is best.  Their research has shown that babies born at 39 weeks or after do better developmentally and have fewer complications.

1 in 8 babies born in the United States each year is born prematurely.  1 in 8.  That's a staggering statistic!  That is 36% higher than it was 25 years ago.  So the trend is definitely going in the wrong direction.  Across the globe, 13 million babies are born early every year.  Due to this, on January 30, 2003 the March of Dimes launched the Prematurity Campaign.  This campaign has two main goals.  First, to raise public awareness of the problems of prematurity.  Second, to decrease the rate of preterm birth in the US.

This campaign does the following things:

Funds research to find the causes of premature birth

Encourages investment of public and private research dollars to identify causes and to identify and test promising interventions

Educates women about risk-reduction strategies and the signs and symptoms of preterm labor 

Provides information and emotional comfort to families affected by prematurity

Advocates to expand access to health care coverage to improve maternity care and infant health outcomes

Helps health care providers to improve risk detection and address risk factors

Generates concern and action around the problem

In 2005, the March of Dimes initiated the PREEMIE Act, which stands for Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers Who Deliver Infants Early.  It became law in 2006.  It authorized the federal government to devote money to research and education on prematurity.  As parat of the PREEMIE Act, the first Surgeon General's Conference on the prevention of premature birth was held in 2008.  This conference brought together experts on the topic from the public and private sectors.  March of Dimes staff and volunteers were key participants in each of the six work groups that developed goals for an action plan. The goals were presented to the Surgeon General at the conclusion of the conference. Achieving the goals of this plan requires both private and public resources for broad-based research, capacity building, data systems, creation of interventions, quality initiatives and a comprehensive communications strategy.

The March of Dimes has made November Prematurity Awareness Month.  This is the time that they focus the nation's attention the the problems of premature birth.  The March of Dimes and their partner organizations and alliances are asking everyone to help spread the word on the problems associated with prematurity.  These partners include The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, The American Academy of Pediatrics, and The Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.  There are a large number of alliance members, and they can be found here.

So in short, through donations received, the March of Dimes funds research that will one day greatly reduce the number of premature births.  We've known people that have gone through this, but like I said before, until you go through it yourself, there's really no way to describe how stressful or emotionally taxing it truly is.  It is something that no one who has ever been through would ever wish on their worst enemy.  If you would like more information on exactly what the March of Dimes is and what they do, check out their website at www.marchofdimes.com.