World Prematurity Day

November 17th marks World Prematurity Day around the globe. The March of Dimes charity is campaigning to raise awareness about the struggles families go thru when their babies are born too soon. They are working to aide in research and speak out for legislation that improves the care for moms and babies.

 

 

Our twins were born at 30 weeks and 1360g & 950g due to TTTS and spent an exhausting 8 & 11 weeks in Neonatal Intensive Care Units. After having two full term healthy babies before the twins, it was a horrible reality to see that babies could be born so small and weak and could need so much assistance just to breathe. 10 IV pumps, countless drugs, 2 different ventilators, hundreds of needle pokes, feeding tubes and UV lights just off the top of my head. It’s a nightmare that still haunts me but when I saw them off to their first day of kindergarten this fall, I felt like I could finally put it all behind me.

Aside from the shock of having my own preemie twins, I was shocked to see that the NICU was constantly in a state of full capacity. I had no idea that so many families were experiencing the same thing day after day, year after year. This list of facts about premature birth may shock you too.

 

 

♥ Premature birth is any time before 37 weeks gestation.

♥ extremely preterm (<28 weeks)

♥ very preterm (28 to <32 weeks)

♥ moderate to late preterm (32 to <37 weeks)

♥ James Elgin Gill (born on 20 May 1987 in Ottawa, Canada) was the earliest premature baby in the world. (Wiki)

♥ He was 128 days premature (21 weeks and 5 days gestation) and weighed 1 pound 6 ounces (624 g).

♥ He survived and is quite healthy

♥ 15 million babies are born premature worldwide each year.

♥ Prematurity is the #1 cause of death in newborns.

♥ The costs associated with prematurity has risen to $26 BILLION annually!

♥ Birth defects happen in almost 8 million babies born prematurely each year.

♥ March of Dimes expanded their campaign in 2008 to go global.

♥ More than three-quarters of premature babies can be saved with feasible, cost-effective care, even without the availability of neonatal intensive care.

♥ Those include antenatal steroid injections (given to pregnant women at risk of preterm labour to strengthen the babies’ lungs), kangaroo mother care (the baby is carried by the mother with skin-to-skin contact and frequent breastfeeding) and antibiotics to treat newborn infections.

Want to help these babies?

Donate to your local NICU. Donate to your local Health Trust. Donate to the March of Dimes.

Short on cash?

Donate new, clean blankets to your local NICU. Knit itty bitty hats for the babies to keep them warm. Donate preemie clothes to your local NICU.

Can’t knit?

Share this post, maybe one of your friends can knit.

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