Five-year-old Katelyn is from Leesburg, Virginia.  As the National March of Dimes Ambassador, Katelyn and her parents will be traveling across the country attending events, speaking with legislators, conducting interviews and appearing with corporate leaders, celebrities and the President of the United States to share their story and help raise awareness of health risks to pregnant women and newborns. 

Katelyn was born prematurely at 25 weeks, weighing less than a pound and measuring the length of a ballpoint pen.  Katelyn was only given a 5% chance of survival.  In the newborn intensive care unit (NICU), she faced many challenges common to babies born too soon.  After five long months, Ashley and Michael were finally able to bring their daughter home. 

Premature birth touches half a million babies and their families every year including almost 17,000 babies in Pennsylvania.  Babies born too soon are more likely to die or have disabilities.  The March of Dimes is committed to reducing this toll by funding research to find the answers to premature birth and providing comfort and information to all families.  
 
Today Katelyn is a happy and energetic five-year-old, but she does have consequences from her early arrival.  Katelyn was chosen as the 2009 National Ambassador because she exemplifies the long term problems faced by many children who survive an extremely early birth. 

 “We can’t imagine life without Katelyn,” says Michael.  “And we can’t imagine life without the March of Dimes.”  Since 2004, the Halls have helped raise the awareness of the problem of premature birth and fund for research into ways to prevent it. The Halls are determined to raise a million dollars, the cost of Katelyn’s medical care, for the March of Dimes so that the organization can help more babies and more families.

While in Philadelphia, Katelyn visited with volunteers and corporate supporters from such companies as CIGNA, Health Partners, Kmart, Famous Footwear.  The Halls also participated in the Transportation, Building and Construction Luncheon on Tuesday, March 17.   Earlier that day, the Halls toured the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital and appeared on NBC’s 10! Show

The March of Dimes is the leading nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health.  With chapters nationwide and its premier event, March for Babies the March of Dimes works to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality.  For the latest resources and information, visit marchofdimes.com or nacersano.org.