World Prematurity Day

Today is World Prematurity Day. It is a worldwide campaign led by the March of Dimes to bring awareness to the issue of preterm births. For the first time in the past year, complications of prematurity became the number 1 cause of death for children under 5. Think about all of the problems around the world that put children at risk- war, unsanitary drinking water, starvation, diseases, just to name a few- and prematurity is the number 1 cause of death. This campaign brings awareness to this issue and helps raise money to improve care to preemies and help research ways to reduce this number.

Not only does the March of Dimes raise money for research and education, but they offer emotional support to families that are in the NICU. We received everything from gift cards for food and coffee to a special NICU baby book. When you have a baby in the NICU, little things like a baby book that you can actually fill out (filled with special milestones like when she finally came off a ventilator, and the first time I held her) gives you this little moment where you actually feel like a normal mom. For me, these small gifts from organizations like the March of Dimes helped more than I can ever describe.

I talk and write a lot about having a preemie and I'm sure some people don't understand why we still talk about it so much and why it isn't just something in our past. The reality is that it changed us. Having our daughter in intensive care for so long redefined our relationship with each other, with God, and every area of our lives. We were forced to trust complete strangers with our baby's life, had to keep it together while doctors told us on more than one occasion that she "wasn't out of the woods", and prayed harder than I ever knew I could when they would trial her off of a ventilator.

We bonded with families that on the outside, are completely different from us. But when you are watching your child struggle to breathe, eat, and simply stay alive, all of a sudden race, religion, age, doesn't mean a thing. The other families in the NICU with us helped us through some of our darkest days. We hugged each other on the bad days, cheered our babies on  when they reached new milestones, and even laughed together. 

Each year, 15 million babies are born too early. If you are looking for an organization to donate to this holiday season, please consider the March of Dimes. If you are on social media, you can use the hashtags #worldprematurityday #purpleforpreemies #borntoosoon to show your support!

xo,
Mary