With the sunny months of summer comes our Mothers March online campaign, featuring great awards from Lillian Vernon for helping us raise funds to save babies. Featured in this month's Personal Spotlight is the story of Marjorie, a Mothers March volunteer who was born in 1955 with a birth defect. Every year she helps out the March of Dimes because she is forever grateful to the foundation that helped her have a normal childhood.

Because you are part of the March of Dimes family, we're sharing this story with you, as well as important information on:

• signs of preterm labor
• WNBA star with triplets receives award for her work with the March of Dimes
• our "Fact of the Month"
  

Visit marchofdimes.com to read more. Share your comments, suggestions and feedback on this newsletter with us by e-mailing newsletter@marchofdimes.com

Dear March of Dimes, I know you have lots of current March of Dimes success stories, but, even though I'm going to turn 49 this year, I'm still grateful for what the March of Dimes has done for me. I was born June 24, 1955--the same year that Disneyland was born! My adoptive parents didn't know me until I was nine months old, and just barely out of the casts and braces that I'd had since birth. I was born without any hip sockets. My birth parents weren't able to afford the hospital bills so they placed me up for adoption. Between the time I was born and the day my adoptive parents took me home, nearly 10 months passed. During that time, I lived in a couple of foster homes. Because of the March of Dimes programs at the time, I was able to learn to walk, to dance, to run, to play on my swingset--those things that every little child longs to do. Every year, I work as a March of Dimes Mother's March vounteer. This year, I walked in our local WalkAmerica. The March of Dimes work is so very important to preventing birth defects and I love being involved. Thank you, March of Dimes! I wouldn't be walking today if it hadn't been for your help! Marjorie

What Is Preterm Labor?
Preterm or premature labor happens when you go into labor three or more weeks before your due date. This is too early, and your baby could be born too soon. Babies born too soon can have lifelong or life-threatening health problems.

Can Preterm Labor Be Stopped? Many women are given drugs to try to delay or stop preterm labor. In some cases, birth can be delayed long enough to transport Mom to a hospital that has a neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). Women also may be given medications that can improve the baby's health.

Warning Signs
Here are the warning signs:
- Contractions every 10 minutes or more often (they don't have to be painful)
- Clear, pink or brownish fluid (water) leaking from your vagina
- The feeling that your baby is pushing down
- Low, dull backache
- Cramps that feel like your period
- Cramps with or without diarrhea

Find out more about what you need to know from our Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center. sm

Helen Darling Receives WNBA Community Assist Award, Names March of Dimes of OH as Beneficiary

CLEVELAND, OH, MAY 28, 2003 – During the Cleveland Rockers off-season, Rockers player Helen Darling made a commitment to the community for which she plays by making 35 community appearances in Northeast Ohio from November 2002 to April 2003. If it sounds like a generous use of time, as it would be for most people - for Darling, it was a generous use of precious time. Darling is the mother of one-year-old triplets—Nevaeh, Jalen, and Ja-Juan—and lives in Columbus, Ohio.

During the six-month period, Helen touched many young lives as she visited schools to talk about the importance of reading and getting a good education. She held basketball clinics with girls five-years-old to seniors in high school, to teach skills and teamwork, but also to bond and to provide a sense of direction that will put them on the right path for success.

Darling has been serving as a national spokesperson for the March of Dimes, an organization near and dear to her heart. It was through the March of Dimes that Darling learned what to expect when her triplets arrived six weeks prematurely. That education and support was the beginning of Darling’s relationship with the March of Dimes.

Do you know of a baby who was born prematurely?
Visit our Prematurity
Web site.

Seeing double?
Seeing more double strollers lately? That's not surprising, since more than 3 percent of babies in the U.S. are born in sets of two, three, or more. Since 1980, the number of twin births increased 77 percent and the number of triplets (or more) increased five-fold.

Send us your birth story.
Miracles is always looking for new childbirth stories for our e-mail newsletter. If you would like to share your personal story, please e-mail us.
We can't guarantee that every story will be used.

Call 1-888-MODIMES (888-663-4637) and speak with a trained health information specialist in our Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center.

Visit the Center online at www.marchofdimes.com

E-mail askus@marchofdimes.com for a quick, confidential response.