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PREMATURITY AWARENESS MONTH
• More than a half million babies are born prematurely each year—that’s one in eight babies. More newborns die from premature birth than any other cause. This is the number one health problem for babies in the U.S. and in our state. It’s time for our country to do more to help moms have healthy, full-term babies.
• November is when the March of Dimes focuses the nation’s attention each year on the impact premature birth has on babies and families and on the opportunities for prevention. November is Prematurity Awareness Month and November 12th is Prematurity Awareness Day. The goal is to get the crisis of premature birth on the nation’s health care agenda.
• In our country today, more newborns die from premature birth than any other cause. One in eight babies is born prematurely and millions of children face serious health challenges because they were born too soon. Together, we can find the causes of premature birth. Solutions are within our grasp.
• The March of Dimes urges everyone to sign the 2008 Petition for Preemies, which is online at marchofdimes.com/petititon. The petition calls on federal and state officials, health care professionals and business leaders to take action and help more babies be born healthy and full-term
PREMATURITY CAMPAIGN
• Since it began in 2003, the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign has served as a major catalyst in drawing attention to the problem of premature birth. A 2007 Gallup survey found that 64 percent of childbearing age women consider prematurity a very serious problem, compared to just 41 percent before the campaign began.
• Since 2004 the March of Dimes has awarded 34 national grants totaling $11.5 million, through the Prematurity Research Initiative, to scientists making advances in uncovering the causes of preterm deliveries.
• The March of Dimes achieved a major campaign milestone when the PREEMIE Act (P.L. 109-450) was signed into law in late 2006. By approving the measure, Congress authorized expanded research, education and services pertaining to the growing problem of premature birth. The PREEMIE ACT also called for a Surgeon General’s Conference on the Prevention of Premature Birth, which was held in June 2008, fulfilling a key Prematurity Campaign promise. Now, the March of Dimes Petition for Preemies is taking some key findings from the Conference to the next step of fulfillment.
• The March of Dimes has created programs that provide information and comfort to families who have a premature baby. We have staff working directly with moms and dads in more than 60 hospitals, and we reach thousands more through our online community for parents.
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