March of Dimes Seeking Local Families to Form Teams and Walk for Someone they Love at an Indiana WalkAmerica this Spring  

(Indianapolis, IN, March 2, 2007) – 1 in 8 Indiana families understand, firsthand, the enormous emotional toll premature birth takes on a family.  Many of the 11,186 babies born to these families weigh mere ounces at birth and families have to wait and worry because no one can guarantee that their baby will survive.  Thankfully many do survive but may have to cope with health problems like cerebral palsy, development delays, hearing and vision loss or chronic lung disease every day as a reminder of their early arrival. 

As a 2007 WalkAmerica Family Team, Indiana families and friends are honoring these little miracles and remembering those who did not survive by helping the March of Dimes raise money to fight premature birth, birth defects and its consequences.  Many families are walking and the March of Dimes is asking everyone who has a similar experience in Indiana to form a Family Team for WalkAmerica to support March of Dimes research and programs to save babies from premature birth, the leading cause of newborn death in America. 

“WalkAmerica is the walk that saves babies and Family Teams are a tangible example of how March of Dimes programs make a difference for infants and families,” says Tim Arndt, March of Dimes Senior State Director of Communications.   “Together we learn about the struggles and share how each family confronted the tragedy and the problems of premature birth and help save other families from being victims.  We hope all families whether they have experienced prematurity, birth defects or infant loss or not, join us at one of the 45 WalkAmerica events in Indiana this spring and walk for someone they love. When we walk for one, we are walking to give hope to all babies.”

To signup as a Family Team at the WalkAmerica nearest to you call your local office of the March of Dimes Indiana Chapter at 1-800-BIG-WALK or register your Family Team online at http://www.walkamerica.org/.

The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality. Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education, and advocacy to save babies and in 2003 launched a campaign to address the increasing rate of premature birth. For more information, visit the March of Dimes Web site at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish Web site at nacersano.org.