Florida programs
- We’re improving the health of babies in our state.
- Our programs support moms-to-be and professionals.
- We offer comfort to families with a newborn in intensive care.
Supporting moms all throughout their pregnancies.
NICU Family Support
When a baby is born too soon or very sick and starts life in the newborn intensive care unit (NICU), the March of Dimes is there to support the family. One in every 10 babies born in the United States is admitted to a NICU. Some babies spend just a couple of days, others many long months. Having a baby hospitalized in a NICU can be frightening, confusing and overwhelming. NICU Family Support offers information and comfort. We enhance family-centered care practices in partner hospitals to address the needs of families and provide professional education to NICU staff.
Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait
Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait (HBWW) is a preterm birth prevention initiative with a focus on “preventable” late preterm birth. Through partnerships and collaborations between hospitals, health departments and community organizations, HBWW provides education for pregnant patients, health care providers and the greater community to understand the problem of preterm birth and what measures can be taken to reduce the risks of it occurring.
MOMmobile
The March of Dimes MOMmobile is a mobile prenatal care clinic designed to operate like a traditional health care provider’s office, with private exam areas, waiting area, nurse’s station, education area, and a medical laboratory.
Florida Chapter Mission Report
Nearly 240,000 babies are born in Florida every year, and the March of Dimes Florida Chapter volunteers and staff are here to help them have healthier births. We fund important research and programs that help moms have full-term pregnancies and babies begin healthy lives. We also provide information and support to families whose baby was born too soon or sick. Thanks to our advocacy efforts, Florida now screens babies for 29 of the most serious but treatable metabolic conditions. Surfactant and nitrous oxide therapies save the lives of tens of thousands of babies suffering from respiratory distress syndrome because they were born too early. And folic acid education and fortification campaigns have helped protect babies from neural tube birth defects like spina bifida.
Military Partnership
While many servicemen are deployed protecting our country, many of their spouses are sometimes in new cities, away from the support of family members and friends, and dealing with the various stages of pregnancy alone while worrying about their deployed husband’s safe return home. Dealing with the challenges of being a spouse of a deployed serviceman alone can be demanding, but high stress during pregnancy might increase their risk of having a premature baby. Navy families and U.S. Navy employees worldwide receive electronic newsletters entitled Family Connection that the March of Dimes submits articles to in an effort to assist in the education of prematurity prevention and risk reduction. The U.S. Navy currently has over 300,000 Sailors as well as numerous civilian employees. This newsletter reaches deployed Sailors and is located on the Individual Augmentee website, Facebook, and Twitter. We are also in the process of holding a webinar for the U.S. Navy workers and volunteers to help inform them of the various resources that the March of Dimes can offer military families.
Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative
The Florida Perinatal Quality Collaborative (FPQC) at The Lawton and Rhea Chiles Center for Healthy Mothers and Babies at the University of South Florida (USF) is a collaboration of statewide organizations, individuals, perinatal professionals, hospitals and payers with a focus on specific practical quality projects which will improve perinatal outcomes in Florida. Participating Florida perinatal health care stakeholders will engage in a data-driven, value-added quality improvement process aimed at improving maternal and infant health in the state as a partnership using specific expertise at the USF College of Public Health.
Every Woman Florida
The March of Dimes Florida Chapter works with the Florida Department of Health on the Every Woman Florida Preconception Health Initiative. Preconception health, the health of a woman before she becomes pregnant, has been recognized as one of the key factors in improving a mother’s and baby’s health during and after pregnancy. Improving preconception health translates into healthier women, pregnancies and birth outcomes.
Grand Rounds
Funding support for grand rounds programs is available on a limited basis through an application process. For more information, contact Lori Reeves @ lreeves@marchofdimes.com