The fact is that one in eight babies is born prematurely in the United States. That number is surprisingly high to me. One in eight! That's one in every eight children you see that may have spent days... weeks... months... in the hospital at birth.
These babies have a higher risk of serious medical complications. According to the March of Dimes website, half of all neurological disabilities in children are related to premature birth.
Thankfully, as we make advances in medicine and technology, the odds are better for babies born prematurely today than in the past. Strangely though, the rate of premature births has actually risen pretty significantly between the 80's and 2006 - 36%!
I'm not sure why that might be, but that means that despite advances in medicine giving babies a better shot at going home healthy and whole, there are more babies at risk because the number of preemies is increasing!
This is where the charity March of Dimes comes in. I'm sure you know about them and their good work:
- Raising funds that go toward research. Research that identifies why premature births occur, and consequently, what we can do to minimize the risk of premature labour and delivery.
- Supporting families affected by premature birth.
- Educating women about the signs of premature labour, and ways to reduce the risk of bringing on premature labour.
Infections/Inflammation. Studies suggest that premature labor is often triggered by the body's natural immune response to certain bacterial infections, such as those involving the genital and urinary tracts and fetal membranes. Even infections far away from the reproductive organs, such as periodontal disease, may contribute to premature delivery.
Please check out the March of Dimes Peristats website to see interesting statistics broken out by State, and more.
This post was written to bring awareness to the issues facing premature babies and their families. Given these odds, many of us are able to put faces to it. I am not affiliated with March of Dimes, nor was I asked to contribute this post. I volunteered to try to raise awareness, because in this day and age, mothers and babies should not still be casualties of pregnancy.
This post was written to bring awareness to the issues facing premature babies and their families. Given these odds, many of us are able to put faces to it. I am not affiliated with March of Dimes, nor was I asked to contribute this post. I volunteered to try to raise awareness, because in this day and age, mothers and babies should not still be casualties of pregnancy.
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8 comments:
Thanks for the information, and doing your part. There is another organisation too called the Mothersdayeveryday.org (the button on my sidebar takes you to the site) - they also run campaigns to promote info, help & improvement of lives for the safety/health of pregnant women and newborns.
God Bless
BM
Thanks for raising awareness on this. My neighbor works tirelessly on this campaign!
i saw this over on another blog too as a mom of two preemies - no health issues thank goodness - i say good for you for bringing about more awareness to this issue
Thank you for posting this and making us aware of this issue!
Thank you for this post. I know several people who have had preemies and it's scary stuff. Thanks for stopping by my blog today & helping make my day in the SITS spotlight a great one!
Thanks for this post - being pregnant right now, I think that premature birth is something that every mother/parent is afraid of! Stopping by from SITS
Thanks for the info. I didn't realize it was that high. I think this is a great cause. :)
Great information!
I don't think people realize how important this is...until they know someone with a preemie.
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