Fight for Preemies Day
November 17 is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. The March of Dimes has invited bloggers everywhere to get involved. We need to fight ― because babies shouldn’t have to. I was drawn to one of the stories on Bloggers Unite written by a mother named Karen. The amazing thing is that her “life tumbled out of control” exactly 17 years ago today, when her precious son “started too early.” Reading about her experience with a baby that decided to come 8 weeks early and all the struggles touched me today. The best part of her story is how her son, Dude, is now a healthy young man of 17 and one of the “sweetest boys you’ll ever meet!”
You’ll enjoy reading the full account here on her Write From Karen blog. It will both inspire and encourage you – especially if you are dealing with a little one that has started too early…even as we speak…
Dude 8 weeks early in the NICU
Dude, now a teenager
November is Preemie Awareness Month
Well, technically, November is “Premature Birth Awareness Month.” Last year, some 20 million babies were born before they were ready, all over the world. Around 543,000 of them in the United States alone! Premature birth is the #1 cause of death for newborns and can produce lifelong disabilities and health challenges. The number of preemies born each year has increased a whopping 31% since 1981! No one is immune, since premature births can occur for any number of reasons (including no known reason at all) and often without warning. It’s vital that we discover more answers to aid in the fight against premature birth!
Thankfully, rapid advances in medicine have given some of the tiniest babies in history a chance to survive. However, premature birth is often a life or death situation for many babies.
November 17 in particular, is dedicated to raising awareness of the crisis of premature birth. The March of Dimes is inviting bloggers everywhere to get involved. For more info, here are links to bloggersunite and the March of Dimes.