November is Prematurity Awareness Month.

For Prematurity Awareness Month, I have created a band in honor of Shaye. Many of you know her story, if you are new here, click here to read about our Shaye baby.

Now for some facts about prematurity and what the March of Dimes is doing to help prevent premature labor:

Prematurity has been escalating steadily and alarmingly over the past two decades. One out of eight babies is born prematurely in the United States. Preterm delivery can happen to any pregnant woman.

Today more than 1,400 babies in the U.S. ( 1 in 8 ) will be born prematurely. Many will be too small and too sick to go home. Instead, they face weeks or even months in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). These babies face an increased risk of serious medical complications and death; however, most, eventually, will go home.

But what does the future hold for these babies? Many survivors grow up healthy; others aren’t so lucky. Even the best of care cannot always spare a premature baby from lasting disabilities such as cerebral palsy, mental retardation and learning problems, chronic lung disease, and vision and hearing problems. Half of all neurological disabilities in children are related to premature birth.

Although doctors have made tremendous advances in caring for babies born too small and too soon, we need to find out how to prevent preterm birth from happening in the first place. Despite decades of research, scientists have not yet developed effective ways to help prevent premature delivery.
 
In fact, the rate of premature birth increased by 36 percent between the early 1980s and 2006. This trend and the dynamics underlying it underscore the critical importance and timeliness of the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign. In 2007, a small but statistically significant decrease occurred: to 12.7 percent.

The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign

The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign was launched on January 30, 2003. The Campaign has two goals: (1) to raise public awareness of the problems of prematurity and (2) to decrease the rate of preterm birth in the U.S. The campaign:

• 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 premature labor
• Provides information and emotional support 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

Important Milestones in the Campaign

• Creation of the Prematurity Research Initiative in 2004, which funds promising, innovative research into the causes of prematurity. Nearly $11 million has been awarded to 30 grantees over the past four years, and the program has already produced promising discoveries.
• Publication of the Institute of Medicine report Preterm Birth: Causes, Consequences, and Prevention (2005). Funded in part by the March of Dimes, this report thoroughly documented the impact of premature birth on families, the health care system and business; it also provided the first cost estimates.
• The March of Dimes initiated the PREEMIE Act (“Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers Who Deliver Infants Early”) in 2005. This act became law in 2006. It authorizes increased federal support for research and education on prematurity. Work continues on appropriation of funding to implement the act’s provisions.
• The PREEMIE Act also called for the first Surgeon General’s Conference on the Prevention of Preterm Birth, which was held in June 2008. The conference brought together experts 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 will require both private and public resources for broad-based research, capacity building, data systems, creation of interventions, quality initiatives and a comprehensive communications strategy.
• In March 2008, a strategic review of the Campaign was completed. It resulted in a March of Dimes board resolution that extended the Campaign to 2020 and established prematurity prevention as a global campaign. Publication of the first global report on preterm birth by the March of Dimes and the World Health Organization is planned to take place in October 2009 in New Delhi, India.

To learn more about what the campaign has achieved, read Progress and Impact.

It’s Kidd’s Kids Day! Kidd Kraddick founded Kidd’s Kids in 1991 with the hope of making a difference in the lives of terminally and chronically ill children. Each year, Kidd’s Kids offers five amazing days of suspended reality to children whose lives have been ravaged by disease. No hospital visits, no shots, no uncomfortable stares from strangers. Just five straight days of sheer joys and excitement at “the most magical place on earth,” Walt Disney World. Kidd’s Kids children and their families are given the chance to experience the exuberance of being “normal.” That is the gift that you and I can offer by supporting the Kidd’s Kids organization. Please visit Kiddskids.com or click on the link above to make a donation.

Thanks for your support!

back:

Our new president has devoted a lot of time to talking about rebuilding America. He has challenged us to be part of positive change in our nation, by getting involved in volunteer projects in our community.

What if.

What if you woke up one morning, and you were flooded with messages from people you know…all talking about the same thing? On your cell phone, on your Facebook and Myspace, on Twitter and Linked-in, in your email and on your instant messenger, Virtually everywhere you turned, you saw a message about yet another American giving their time to a great cause.

Think of the statement that could make.

My Turn Day.

On February 10, It’s your turn to announce to the world exactly what you’re doing to serve your community. You blog it, text it, email it, twitter it, webcam it, maybe even write it on the back window of your car. Let the world know exactly what you’re DOING. Chances are, all those messages will inspire them to serve too.

For one single day, we can unite America in a single cause. So make FEBRUARY 10th, YOUR TURN on MY TURN DAY.

Working in a Homeless shelter
Reading a book to others
Serving at a Soup kitchen
Painting a house
Cleaning a park
Building a playground
Bringing food to the elderly

On MY TURN DAY, update the status on every webpage you have. Twitter it, IM it, send out a mass text to everyone in your contact list. Your message could be as simple as this:

Tamara is reading to the blind every Saturday starting this weekend.

Gary is helping his neighbors paint a disabled man’s home tomorrow.

THREE SIMPLE STEPS:

1. Figure out what you want to do to help your community.

2. Make the formal arrangements to get it done.

3. On February 10th announce your plan to the world.

We can’t institute change by just TALKING ABOUT IT. It’s time to start doing.

Yup people, (I say this every year) it’s that time of year again.

Anyone who really knows us, knows how important the March of Dimes is to our family.

The girls and I will be walking the 5 miles at UT of the Permian Basin on Saturday, April 18th. Our family has a team goal of $1,500 and I’m asking you to sponor us.

As you know, I am currently 12 weeks pregnant. And more than likely, this baby will end up in the NICU just like Shaye did. The March of Dimes supplies money and technology at the hospital that both Shaye was born and where the new baby will be born.

Please people, if you are in the Permian Basin, and will be around on April 18, join our team. If You don’t feel comftorable on a team, join as an individual walker. Anything will help! If you aren’t up for walking, donate. It goes to a really amazing cause!

If you can’t see the video, click here.

Mac:

Steph:

Dani:

Today in the U.S., 1 in every 8 babies will be born prematurely. Some of them won’t survive, and others will have health problems that could last a lifetime. The funds we raise in WalkAmerica support research that saves babies’ lives.

I have a condition that makes any of my pregnancies have pre-term labor and all of my babies will come out small. Shaye was born 4 weeks & 1 day early on June 2, 2004. She weighed 3 lbs 1/2 oz and was 16 inches long. She was in the NICU for 1 month and 3 days. We are some of the lucky ones because Shaye doesn’t have any long term disabilities.. She’s a little short (lol) but she breathes, walks, talks and sees just fine.. She’s now 2 1/2 and a little monster We’re working on potty training, manners and all that fun stuff..

Please think of Shaye and all the other babies of the world born prematurely before turning away from WalkAmerica. You just may save a life!

Thanks all for helping!

Steph