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1 in 8 Babies is Born Too Soon
Premature birth can happen without warning and for no known reason. To fight this problem, the March of Dimes launched a national multiyear, multimillion-dollar Prematurity Campaign to raise awareness of the problem of prematurity and to reduce the rate of premature birth. 

 

  
Prematurity Campaign, How far have we come... The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign was launched in 2003.  Since the start of the campaign the awareness of preterm birth has increased among both the general public and women of childbearing age.  The first phase of the campaign focused on finding answers, providing information to women and healthcare providers, and offering information to families in need of comfort.  In moving forward with the second phase, we are using information gathered from our first phase. The Foundation would like to move in the direction of meaningful and targeted intervention in the United States and developing new initiatives globally.

 

In 2005, 1 in 8 babies (12.7% of live births) was born premature in the United States.

In 2006 in New Jersey 12.9% of live births were preterm. 

For more perinatal health data, visit the March of Dimes PeriStats web site. The PeriStats web site provides:

  Free access to U.S., state and local maternal and infant health data aggregated from more than 11 government agencies and organizations.
  Easy access to more than 60,000 graphs, maps, and tables.
  Over 100 health indicators, including measure of prenatal care adequacy, low birthweight, preterm birth, and infant mortality, within many indicators stratified by race, ethnicity and maternal age.
  Detailed perinatal data for the largest U.S. cities and countries.


What is New Jersey's Prematurity Status?

New Jersey’s prematurity rate has dropped by 2% !! The New Jersey Chapter has worked with the Department of Health and Senior Services to expand screening to 54 newborn screening conditions.  The chapter was also successful in having the state restore funding for disorders that had previously been cut due to budget concerns.
 
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What is New Jersey Doing to Address the Problem?

Community Grant Priorities -The March of Dimes New Jersey Chapter has chosen to focus its grant funding priorities on the following:

-Health literacy initiatives that improve the ability of pregnant women to fully understand preterm labor and preterm birth reduction information provided to them through brochures, their healthcare providers, and visual information

-Reducing disparities in preterm birth and infant mortality

-Programs that enhance access to prenatal care and education that are related to reducing preterm birth rates

For more information on specific grants visit our Community Grants page.

Professional Education Priorities:

Our Chapter hosts an annual professional conference for New Jersey’s healthcare professionals that provide up-to-date information on the care of pregnant women and issues related to prevention of preterm birth and the care of premature infants by the state’s most respected professionals.

Advocacy:

We have recently joined forces with the New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services and the Northern New Jersey Maternal Child Health Consortium to invite over 40 healthcare agencies to form the Social Equity in Birth Outcomes Coalition.  The coalition is currently finding realistic ways to address New Jersey’s disparities in preterm birth and infant mortality in the areas of advocacy, professional development, and research.

Quality Improvement Initiatives:

For 2009 the chapter has charged itself with increasing awareness of the problems of delivering babies late preterm (after 35 completed weeks of pregnancy but before 39 weeks of gestation) amongst pregnant women and healthcare providers and is also encouraging hospital teams to initiate patient safety strategies to reduce elective deliveries prior to 39 weeks.

NICU Family Support Program

The March of Dimes continues to provide support to families with an infant in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit through our NICU Family Support Program at Capital Health System in Trenton, New Jersey. For more information see our Community Programs page.

NOVEMBER is Prematurity Awareness Month The March of Dimes has designated November as Prematurity Awareness Month to let us know that premature birth is a crisis in our country and to bring people together to help give all babies their 9 months. The March of Dimes is leading a national effort to save babies from premature birth by funding research to find the causes.


Click here to find out what you can do to help prevent premature birth. You can send a message of hope for premature babies by wearing pink and blue, raising awareness with wristbands, car magets and ribbons, sending e-mails and letters, and supporting research.

Partnering with the March of Dimes is as good for business as it is for babies.
How does your state rank in newborn screening tests?
Participate in online discussions about premature babies, start a blog, or just meet other NICU families.
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