Minnesota 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.

Healthy Babies, Healthy Business was designed to help you to enhance your existing wellness programs and to offer our content to your employees.

Based on internal and externally conducted research, we know that reducing health care costs is a major factor when cost-justifying these types of programs. That's why our program is no-cost. We are keenly aware of the financial and emotional burdens involved with having a premature or unhealthy baby and want to help you mitigate health care costs by enhancing employee education.

Prematurity takes a devastating physical toll on babies. It robs families of the full potential of their beloved children, society of future leaders, and our nation of strong and healthy citizens. And it places a tremendous financial burden on everyone, including our health systems, businesses and society as a whole.

Did you know?

In 2005, the annual societal economic cost (medical, educational and lost productivity) associated with preterm birth in the U.S. was at least $26.2 billion or $51,600 per infant born preterm

Of this total, medical care services contributed $16.9 billion Maternal

Delivery costs contributed another $1.9 billion Early intervention services cost an estimated $611 million

Special education services associated with the higher prevalence of four major disabling conditions among preterm infants (cerebral palsy, intellectual disability, vision impairment and hearing loss) added another $1.1 billion

Lost household and labor market productivity associated with preterm birth disabilities contributed $5.7 billion

Cost to employers

For a large employer health plan:

Average expenditures for a premature/low birthweight infant were more than 10 times as high as for an uncomplicated newborn.

Costs for an uncomplicated cesarean delivery (a large component of premature births) were more than 40 percent higher than costs for uncomplicated vaginal deliveries

For more information on Healthy Babies, Healthy Business call the Minnesota March of Dimes at (952) 835-3033.