Prematurity is the No. 1 killer of newborns and according to the March of Dimes, each year, 14,293 babies in New Jersey suffer the consequences of being born too soon. Babies who survive an early birth face the risk of lifelong health problems, including learning disabilities, cerebral palsy, blindness, hearing loss and chronic conditions such as asthma.
November is Prematurity Awareness Month and we encourage people to sign the Petition for Preemies at www.marchofdimes.com/petition as a way to remember those babies born prematurely and those whose lives hang in the balance or were lost.
The petition, which is supported by the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, the National Business Group on Health, and other maternal and infant health agencies and concerned businesses and organizations, aims to elevate the problem of preterm birth on the nation’s health care agenda and to help drive policy changes at the federal and state levels to solve this problem.
The four-point petition calls for hospital leaders to voluntarily review all cesarean-section births and inductions of labor that occur before 39 weeks gestation, in an effort to reverse America’s rising preterm birth rate.
The reviews would help ensure that all cesarean-sections and inductions meet established American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists guidelines regarding medical necessity of elective procedures, as some doctors and patients are currently scheduling these procedures early and putting newborns at greater risk of respiratory distress, delayed brain development, sudden infant death, jaundice, rehospitalization and feeding problems.
In addition, the petition calls for expanded federal support for prematurity-related research to uncover the causes of premature birth, to create strategies to prevent premature birth and to improve the care and outcomes for preterm infants. The petition also urges policy makers to improve access to health coverage for women of childbearing age and to support smoking-cessation programs as part of maternity care and asks workplaces to support maternal and infant health by providing private areas to pump breast milk and access to flextime for and information about healthy pregnancy and childbirth.
The rate of preterm birth in the United States has increased more than 20 percent since 1990. One in every eight babies is born too soon each year, with preterm births costing the nation more than $26 billion a year, according to an Institute of Medicine report released in 2006.
During November, we encourage people to remember the call of performer Eddie Cantor, who appealed to ordinary citizens during the Great Depression to join the campaign of finding a solution to infant death and disease with a “March of Dimes.”
Even a small donation of spare change to this cause enables all persons, even children, to show the newly elected president that they are with him in the fight against the more than half a million premature births that occur in the United States each year, as well as against other threats to infant health. Those who can’t spare the dime during this economic downturn can still help by donating a signature to the Petition for Preemies or some time to the local March of Dimes chapter in Cranbury.