World Prematurity Day and Prematurity Awareness Month

World Prematurity Day is November 17. This is a truly global event including groups from the USA, Europe, Australia, and Africa. To accompany this, the March of Dimes has declared all of November as Prematurity Awareness Month.

As you know, premature birth has touched our own life deeply, but furthermore, prematurity is a tremendous global challenge. In the USA, nearly one in eight babies is born prematurely. Worldwide, 13 million preemies are born each year, and many (including our Oliver and Charlotte) are unable to overcome the adversity of being born too early - prematurity is the leading cause of infant death in the USA and many other countries. Even for the babies (like Eliza) who are healthy and fortunate enough to survive, many face resulting long-term health challenges including developmental delays, learning disabilities, brain damage, chronic lung disease, low muscle tone, blindness, and/or cerebral palsy. (Half of all neurological disabilities in children are related to premature birth.)

Modern medicine has made it possible for so many more preemies to survive and thrive than was ever before possible (for which we are tremendously thankful on Eliza's behalf!), but it would be far better if premature birth could be prevented in the first place. The March of Dimes, and many other organizations, are working hard on this challenge, but until it's solved, the least we can all do is build awareness. Please help to spread the word about World Prematurity Day, and please take a minute or two on November 17th in honor of the preemies we know, the ones we remember, and the ones we've never had the chance to meet.

In closing, I wanted to share a link with you. Team Spectacular is a blog and webcomic, by and about a family with a son who was born premature at 24 weeks gestation. The whole comic is fun and touching, but in particular I recommend the Micro-Preemie Power storyline which retells the story of their son's birth and stay in the NICU in illustrated form. It's accurate, brutally honest, and heart-wrenching. Read it!