• Thanks to intensive tracking and education efforts, the rate of neural tube defects (serious birth defects of the brain and spinal cord) has been reduced by 60 percent, below the national average.  Called “South Carolina’s Success Story of the Decade,” this program is a national model. NTDs can be prevented when women take a multivitamin containing folic acid before and during the early months of pregnancy.  The South Carolina March of Dimes has invested $1.9 million in this program.
  
• The South Carolina Chapter was chosen as one of three model sites in the country for the March of Dimes NICU Family Support program.  Housed at Greenville Hospital System University Medical Center Children’s Hospital, this program currently provides support and comfort to families with babies in newborn intensive care. 
  
• Premature birth is the most serious health problem facing America’s babies, affecting 1 in 8 births. That’s 168 babies a week in South Carolina! The March of Dimes Premature Birth Campaign seeks to understand and prevent premature birth in order to reduce the emotional and financial costs associated with babies born too soon and too small. 
  
• The March of Dimes provides resources to community organizations and agencies through the chapter’s annual Community Grants Program.  In 2007, more than $650,000 will be distributed state-wide in innovative programs to improve maternal and child health in South Carolina.
  
• Having a Healthy Baby & Baby’s First Year Book is a collaborative effort between SC DHEC, “Caring for Tomorrow’s Children”, and the March of Dimes that allows for the production and distribution of a reference guide that stresses early and regular prenatal care for pregnant women.  More than 60,000 books are distributed to pregnant women annually. 
  
• The March of Dimes maintains an active, well-respected, non-partisan presence in the political arena.  Thanks to March of Dimes efforts, the South Carolina General Assembly passed 2004 legislation to create the SC Birth Defects Program (SCBDP).  In 2006, the Chapter helped secure over $800,000 in stable funding for and implementation of the Birth Defects Program to be housed at DHEC.  The March of Dimes also succeeded in changing policy to Increase newborn health screens offered in South Carolina hospitals in order to prevent lifelong disabilities and infant death.  South Carolina currently does 27 of the 29 March of Dimes recommended uniform condition panel of newborn screening tests.
  
• The March of Dimes is concerned about births to teen mothers because they are often unplanned and at risk for premature birth, placing the infant at risk for medical and social hardships. The South Carolina Chapter co-founded the SC Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy in the early 1990s to combat this problem, resulting in a steady decrease in teen pregnancies.
  
• Over $39 million is invested annually by the March of Dimes to support research aimed at preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant death.  In 2005, the South Carolina Chapter not only contributed to the national grants, but also earmarked an additional $299,000 to sponsor research scientists working to improve the health of babies. 
  
• Nursing Grand Rounds have been held at 5 major hospitals in South Carolina (Spartanburg Regional, Lexington Medical Center, McLeod Medical Center, Piedmont Regional Medical Center, and Beaufort Memorial Hospital).  Nursing Grand Rounds are a free educational opportunity for nurses to earn continuing education credits.  Funding for the Nursing Grand Rounds was provided by Mead Johnson and The March of Dimes.  For more information on how to host a Nursing Grand Rounds, call the South Carolina office at 803-252-5200.  For a listing of the nursing modules available through the March of Dimes, visit http://www.marchofdimes.com/professionals/2222_2301.asp

January 2007