November 17th – Unite, Fight and Write to Raise Awareness about Premature Birth

Each year nearly 13 million babies worldwide are born prematurely or born at less than 37 full weeks gestation. Of these more then one million die. More than one million infants die because they are born too soon.

In the past 25 years the rate of preterm birth in the United States has increased 36 percent. One out of eight babies in the U.S. are born prematurely.

On November 17th, Bloggers Unite and the March of Dimes are encouraging bloggers to unite, fight and write blog posts during Prematurity Awareness Month to increase awareness of prematurity around the world.

To learn more about prematurity, find out what you can do and give to the March of Dimes, visit their About Prematurity page.

More about the Fight for Preemies

Dyer KA. Bloggers Unite to Fight for Preemies on Nov. 17th. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer KA. 2009. Coming This November...Prematurity Awareness Month for the March of Dimes. NICU Parent Support Blog.

More on the March of Dimes

Dyer KA. 2009. NICU Family Support from the March of Dimes. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer KA. 2009. March of Dimes Supporting NICU Families with NICU Family Support. Type-A Mom.

Bloggers Unite to Fight for Preemies on Nov. 17th

On November 17, 2009 you can help raise awareness about premature births by blogging about the March of Dimes Fight for Preemies.

Join Bloggers Unite and the March of Dimes in November for Prematurity Awareness Month® to spread the word and raise awareness about their fight against premature births.

Before November 17th
Before the November 17th "Blog-in" you can help spread the word in several ways.

• Send email messages to your family and friends.
• Tweet about the March of Dimes (@marchofdimes) on Twitter.
• Follow the March of Dimes on Facebook and post messages.
  
• Put a March of Dimes badge and/or a banner on your blog or website.
• Put a Bloggers Unite badge on your website.
• Sign up for the Bloggers Unite, Fight for Preemies event.

Plan to Blog on November 17th
November 17 is the day that was chosen The March of Dimes to encourage bloggers to fight for preemies. On November 17th, bloggers are asked to post a blog on November 17th for "a baby you love and to help others."

More on Bloggers Unite
Bloggers Unite is an attempt to harness the power of the blogosphere to make the world a better place.

It is their hope that by asking bloggers to write about a particular subject on 1 day of the month, a single voice can be joined with thousands to help make a difference; from raising awareness for cancer, to an effort to better education systems or supporting 3rd world countries.

More Articles on the March of Dimes

Dyer KA. 2009. NICU Family Support from the March of Dimes. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer KA. 2009. Coming This November...Prematurity Awareness Month for the March of Dimes. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer KA. 2009. March of Dimes Supporting NICU Families with NICU Family Support. Type-A Mom.

Coming This November...Prematurity Awareness Month for the March of Dimes

Every year, 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick. Half a million premature babies are born each year in the United States.

November is Prematurity Awareness Month for the March of Dimes. During November, the March of Dimes works on raising awareness about premature births in the hopes of saving more babies from being born prematurely.

Hear about the work that the March of Dimes is doing to prevent birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality from NICU Physician (Neonatologist) and former NICU Parent, Dr. Jalie-Marti:



More on Prematurity Awareness Month
The March of Dimes offers information on ways to learn, do and give to show your support for the March of Dimes' Prematurity Awareness Month.

Things that you can do:

• Raise a voice and join the MOD National Advocacy Network
• Follow the March of Dimes on
  
• Facebook
• Twitter
• Flickr
• Youtube
• Post a Badge or a Banner like the one below on your Blog to show support.
• Click on the image below for more information from the March of Dimes.
  

More Articles on the March of Dimes

Dyer KA. 2009. NICU Family Support from the March of Dimes. NICU Parent Support Blog.
Dyer KA. 2009. March of Dimes Supporting NICU Families with NICU Family Support. Type-A Mom.

NICU Family Support from the March of Dimes

For NICU parents who have the a NICU Family Support Specialist from the March of Dimes present in their hospital, this support person can be an invaluable aid in helping them get adjusted to the NICU.

NICU Family Support was developed to provide information and comfort to those families in crisis. The program is built on a family-centered philosophy and is implemented nationwide through March of Dimes chapters.

This video clip from the March of Dimes describes more about the role of the NICU Family Support Specialist.



You can check the March of Dimes website to locate your local March of Dimes Chapter.

Identifying, Understanding and Working with Grieving Parents in the NICU - Presentation on Docstoc

This lecture was prepared and given at the First Annual Perinatal Conference held by the March of Dimes Valley Division in Modesto California in November 2005.


Identifying, Understanding and Working with Grieving Parents in the NICU

I was one of the expert speakers present as a former NICU Parent and a Grief, Loss and Bereavement expert.