This post is sponsored by the Anthem Foundation.
In the United Sates, one out of every 10 babies is born prematurely, which is staggering considering that prematurity is the number one cause of death for babies in the U.S. That’s why the March of Dimes is dedicated to preventing premature births: Preventing premature births equals saving lives.
Since 2010, the Anthem Foundation has provided over $4.3 million in grant funding to help the March of Dimes grow and create programs that provide first trimester prenatal care and provide at-risk mothers with the tools they need to prevent low-birthweight babies and premature delivery.
The stakes are high because babies born even a few weeks early–before 37 weeks gestation– have higher rates of illness and spend more time hospitalized than full-term newborns.
Premature babies can face:
- Breathing problems
- Feeding difficulties
- Cerebral palsy
- Developmental delays
- Vision and hearing impairments.
Programs funded by the contributions of the Anthem Foundation include:
- Smoking Cessation
- Quality improvement initiatives related to the elimination of early elective deliveries
- Healthy Babies are Worth the Wait Community Programs®
- CenteringPregnancy® (CP)
CenteringPregnancy® (CP) has been particularly beneficial to expectant Latinas. The program brings together diverse groups of 8 to 10 women who are due around the same time; they meet for 9 sessions of group prenatal care and education. The group environment promotes engagement while learning and also helps foster a sense of community across racial and socio-economic backgrounds.
In the last year, more than 3,000 women were registered in the program and 1,410 of them were Latinas; that’s more than a third. The Census Bureau estimates that by 2020 there will be more than 13.8 million Hispanic women of childbearing age, which makes the continued funding of services like this essential for the Latino community.
Please press the play arrow to watch the video below, which details how the Anthem Foundation helps the March of Dimes take care of expectant mothers and save babies because it really is a matter of life and death.
Find out more about the Anthem Foundation here.
Before you go, please hit one of the share buttons to help spread awareness of the importance of prenatal care and the prevention of premature birth.
This is such a helpful article. I am happy to see a program that focuses on educating women on the things they can do to help prevent premature birth…smoking cessation, etc. I am also happy to see that the program appears to be growing and helping more women each year, which is a very good thing.
Yes, I hope the program continues to grow so that it can reach many more.
So scary! I remember being pregnant and then my baby NEVER came..haha..I went from fears of being early to fears of it never coming! So informative! Thank you!
I’ve heard of that happening. I can imagine that it was frustrating especially since when you are at the end of pregnancy, you are so ready to be done being pregnant.
I wasn’t aware the rate of premature babies was so high. I also believe that now that women are often decided to get pregnant at a much later time in life, the risks do increase with age. Thanks for sharing this important information
No doubt the risk increases with age.
I am glad there is a program out there to help if people go through this. I imagine it would be terrifying!
It’s terrifying and the medical costs are through the roof.
My new nephew was a preemie. He was 6 weeks early, which I know isn’t as early as some babies, but it was still scary.
Oh, that’s plenty early. Those extra 6 weeks of “cooking” make a huge difference.
This is an important issue to draw focus and awareness to. Hope many expectant mums can read this and benefit! 🙂
Let’s hope so because it makes such a big difference if a baby can make it to 40 weeks gestation.
Sadly the United States has a horrible infant mortality rate. Delaying having babies is one huge reason because maternal age increases the risk of so many problems including premature birth. Hopefully we can work together to reverse the trend, which includes supporting younger mothers, but that is a huge cultural issue.
It is rather staggering to think that the U.S. has such a high infant mortality rate. I was an older mother, I had my first when I was 37 and my second when I was 40. I lucked out that both made it to or past 37 weeks.
I was born prematurely and my fear when I got pregnant with my son was that he would also be a preemie. I hope that the awareness level regarding this issue will increase.
I hope the level of awareness increases too. It seems that only folks who have had preemies know about it and really it’s important for all expectant parents to know.
My little boy was seven weeks premature and I was 34 years old, maternal age can be a factor.
Yeah, age can definitely play a role.
i was a premie when I was born and my mom was 18 when she had me. and I know she was scared because I weighed 4 lbs and went down to 1 lb. it is sad that the US has such a high premature birth
Oh my gosh, you were such a tiny little thing. One pound is next to nothing, your mother must have been so worried. So glad you lived to tell the tale.
This post will enlighten people that have been through this about the program.
I hope so. I’ve had friends share their stories with me and they are truly heartbreaking.
I was a preemie born almost 3 months too early. As a result I had yellow jaundice and asthma which my mom didn’t find out the latter until I had an attack at two months. I was two pounds and my parents refer to the 1st year of my life as a very trying time. The silver lining was my grandmother and godmother were natural medicine women and the nursed me and had me healthy by the time I was 2. Programs like these would have been so helpful; it’s so important to have a good support team.
I was also a premature baby. I hope this program will help the mothers and the babies to be happy and healthy. Thanks for posting.
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I never smoked in my life and my son was a premie. He was for a few moths before he ad a growth spurt and grew through sizes. We went from Premie to 6 months clothes what felt like overnight.
Aww this is a very good and worthwhile post, its so important to share things like this so that people hear the message and act before it is too late. We are so lucky now days to have the technology and equipment that we have to help these little miracles.
I was a premie, but through no fault of my mom. It’s just that her body couldn’t carry the pregnancy. Thank God these days there is so much more information!
It saddens me when prem babies die and I thank you for raising awareness. I had no idea that it was the number one killer of babies in the US, I hope people will donate so funds can be raised to help prevent against death x