March of Dimes Strives for Healthy Births of Infants

March of Dimes is an organization who strives to improve the health of babies "by preventing birth defects, premature birth and infant mortality." (MOD, 2008) The organization was formed during the polio epidemic in 1921 which resulted in the deaths of many children and March of Dimes worked on preventing that. Luckily, today, polio is not a prevalent disease. However, what is prevalent is the high rates of low-birth weight babies, premature birth and those born with birth defects.

March of Dimes still strives to improve the health of children, but focuses their intent on infants now. They realize that pregnant mothers and families need to be reached before even hitting the delivery room. They promote advocacy and educational information to pregnant women, especially those most at risk. Those who have been found to be most at risk for premature and low-birth weight births are women of Color and those who are lower income. In fact, it has been shown to be a trend from one generation to the next that these risk factors are high and that is why March of Dimes wishes to intervene as early as possible.

Researchers at the March of Dimes organization have found a direct link between premature and low-birth weight births and future health risks, ranging from conditions such as asthma and diabetes to birth defects and mental disorders. The reasons behind why these risky births occur is not definite in its answer, but does have some stagnant trends. One is due to inadequate nutrition for the pregnant mother and luckily WIC strives to relieve that burden. Another reason is inadequate healthcare and lack of information on how to attain healthcare services. One definite factor is smoking and March of Dimes has a smoking cessation program as well.

March of Dimes does not limit itself to just one service or area. They work around eliminating or reducing the conditions that cause premature births in the first place. They work on a macro level that realizes several areas need to be improved and worked on to achieve their ultimate goal of birthing healthy babies in the U.S.

As you can imagine, this is quite an expensive and extensive service March of Dimes works hard for. They are always taking donations and if you donate before 2008 is up, the March of Dimes will match your donation and if you use a Mastercard, then Mastercard will as well! What a deal: http://www.marchofdimes.com/howtohelp/howtohelp.asp