Help Premature Babies!

Dear Family and Friends,

On September 4, 2009, our lives were changed forever with the addition of our son, Richmond Julian Williams. And on April 24, we are going to be walking to celebrate his birth, life, and survival. With babies being born too soon every day, the March of Dimes is working on making sure that less babies and their families will have to go through a premature birth.

Richie came into this world 8 weeks early and without modern medicine and the strides that have been made in helping premature babies and preterm labor, I don’t even want to think about what could have happened. Ways that medicine helped us personally:
• Terbutaline shot at 30 weeks to stop pre-term labor
• Beta Methazone shots at 30 weeks for lung development (steroid shots)
• Special Care Nursery – with all the machines and monitors and specialized staff to make sure that Richie would thrive

And you know what? He did! Luckily. But not all babies are that lucky. And that’s why we walk.
And now we’re asking you for your support. How can you do that? By contributing to the March of Dimes by sponsoring us HERE or by walking alongside us! Your help is so much appreciated, so that babies can
go from this:

Richie - 2 hours old. And the first time I was able to see him after they brought him to the Special Care Nursery 5 minutes after he was born.

to this:

Richie today! :)

Love, Jess, Fred, and Richie

Premature Birth Statistics
Definitions

* Premature born before 37 weeks
* Moderately premature born between 35 and 37 weeks
* Very premature born between 29 and 34 weeks
* Extremely premature born between 24 and 28 weeks
* Low birthweight baby weighs less than 2,500 g (5.5 lbs)
* Very low birthweight baby weighs less than 1,500 g (3.0 lbs)
* Extremely low birthweight baby weighs less than 1,000 g (2.2 lbs)
* Neonatal deaths = within 28 days of birth
* Prenatal deaths = stillbirths and deaths occurring within the 1st week of life

Survival Rates

* Babies born at 23 weeks have a 17% chance of survival
* Babies born at 24 weeks have a 39% chance of survival
* Babies born at 25 weeks have a 50% chance of survival
* From 32 weeks onwards, most babies are able to survive with the help of medical Technology [EPICure data]

Outcomes

* 1 in 10 premature babies will develop a permanent disability such as lung disease, cerebral palsy, blindness or deafness.
* 50% of premature babies born before the 26th week of gestation are disabled, a quarter severely so. (Fowler GA. Preemie problems: the sobering statistics. US News World Reports 2000; vol 129: pp56.)
* Of children born before 26 weeks' gestation, results in 241 of the surviving children at six years (early school age) indicate a high level of disability as follows:
o 22% severe disability (defined as cerebral palsy but not walking, low cognitive scores, blindness, profound deafness)
o 24% moderate disability (defined as cerebral palsy but walking, IQ/cognitive scores in the special needs range, lesser degree of visual or hearing impairment)
o 34% mild disability (defined as low IQ/cognitive score, squint, requiring glasses)
o 20% no problems
* This study also showed a greater risk of severe disability and lower cognitive function results for boys compared with girls. This supports the theory that male sex is an important risk factor in extremely preterm infants.
* Cognitive and neurological impairment is common at school age amongst extremely preterm children. [N Engl J Med 2005; 352: 9-19.] Epicure data