i’ll bet you probably didn’t know that november 16th is prematurity awareness day, according to the march of dimes!

the march of dimes does more than any other organization to sponsor research that helps premature babies to have better outcomes than ever could have been hoped for just a few years ago. when i was born a 26 weeker in 1972 the survival rate was so dismal that doctors and nurses often didn’t try to do anything to safe babies born at less than 30 weeks gestational age. it just wasn’t worth it.

but things are different now and the march of dimes is a big reason why.

the first image is part of their “banding together” program which allows people to contribute on behalf of a specific preemie. i’m not trying to twist any non family member’s arms into donating – and i know that there are some family members that are more comfortable donating anonymously, while some like to publicly show their support. so if you’re a family member, i’ll just assume that you donated even if i don’t see your name and you can feel guilty about it later if you didn’t 🙂

more on prematurity awareness day can be found here and on the national prematurity awareness day “live blog”. the march of dimes is very active in encouraging nicu parents to communicate their stories and has even recently started a share your story site that features blogs prominantly. they’ve even started a flickr group pool.