News Moms Need

May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month. We’re very happy to have the Preeclampsia Foundation as our guest in our upcoming online chat. Join us and learn more about this dangerous condition and some of its warning signs. If you have battled with preeclampsia or HELLP syndrome, share your experience, tell us what helped you get through it, what advice you have for other pregnant women.

Meet us on Twitter Thursday, May 17th at 2 PM EST.  Join in the discussion but be sure to use #pregnancychat to participate and see the full conversation.

National Women’s Health Week begins, appropriately, every year on Mother’s Day. Each year during this week, individuals, families, communities, and others work to help women learn how to achieve longer, healthier, and safer lives.

This special weeklong health observance is coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Women’s Health.  The theme for 2012 is “It’s Your Time.” National Women’s Health Week empowers women to make their health a top priority. It also encourages women to take the following steps to improve their physical and mental health and lower their risks of certain diseases:
• Visit a health care professional to receive regular checkups and preventive screenings. 
• Get active.  
• Eat healthy.  
• Pay attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress. 
• Avoid unhealthy behaviors, such as smoking and not wearing a seatbelt or bicycle helmet. 

Learn more about National Women’s Health week by clicking on the links above or on this one here. Share the news with all the wonderful women in your life.

imbornto  is a new national campaign that benefits March of Dimes. It taps into our collective hopes, dreams and aspirations that we have for our babies and ourselves. The campaign illustrates that every baby is born to do something great, and no matter what you were born to do (dance, cook, build, create, fly!), March of Dimes helped you get there.

The imbornto campaign has two major goals: (1) to increase awareness of the mission of the March of Dimes and to teach people how March of Dimes has had an influence on everyone’s life and (2) to raise money for the organization’s vital research and programs. Take a look at what we want people to know.  

The campaign will run every year from just before Mother’s Day through Father’s Day.

Individuals can support March of Dimes and the imbornto campaign by shopping, dining or donating at locations where they see the March of Dimes imbornto logo. Information about the companies supporting the campaign can be found at www.imbornto.com. Additionally, donations can be made through that site or via www.marchofdimes.com.

May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month. Our guest post today is a personal story from Kelly Thomas of the Preeclampsia Foundation.

When I became pregnant I was determined to do everything right. I read all the popular books, took vitamins faithfully, and gave up diet soda.

Still, it was a difficult pregnancy. At 24 weeks, the swelling began. First it was my feet. Soon, I could no longer wear my wedding rings. Next, elevated blood pressure. My mother, a registered nurse at my OB/GYN‘s office, began to monitor me at home.

Every morning and every night she would come to my house to take my blood pressure and ask seemingly never-ending questions. I was annoyed. Not only was I sentenced to horribly boring bed rest, my mother wouldn’t get off my case.

One morning my blood pressure was extremely high. Her questions began. Yes, I had a stabbing pain in my upper right side. Yes, I had a headache that wouldn’t go away. Yes, my urine is a darkish black/brown color. Then she found I had pitting edema in my arm. She wanted me to go to work with her in order to see my doctor immediately. I, however, was not going to be the “whiney pregnant girl:” how embarrassing! I had an appointment at 1:00 pm that day; surely I would be fine until then.

But she used the, “I’m your mother tone,” so I went with her, begrudgingly.

When we arrived, the doctor immediately recognized the severity of my symptoms (thanks to mom’s couch triage), and I was sent to the hospital. I had never heard of preeclampsia and I did not understand the gravity of the situation. Thank goodness my mother did. She knew that her baby, and her baby’s baby, were in grave danger. Yet she kept her cool and made me get the help she knew I desperately needed.

By 1:00 PM, the time of my scheduled appointment, I was in an ambulance on my way to the closest hospital with a Level III NICU. Early the next morning, Carley was born at 33 weeks by emergency c-section, weighing 2 lbs. 15oz.

Weeks later I found the Preeclampsia Foundation and began to understand the severity of the disorder that had taken over my pregnancy. Most importantly, the Preeclampsia Foundation gave me the ability to become educated and the courage to try again. Though I developed preeclampsia with our son, Colt, who was born at 35 weeks, I had the knowledge to be my own advocate. With the encouragement of my Foundation friends, I wasn’t embarrassed to speak up when I felt something was wrong.

Today Carley is a feisty 5 year old. I too am healthy. However, the outcome could have been very different. Our story proves the importance of knowing the signs and symptoms of preeclampsia. I was ignorant as to what was happening to me. I didn’t want to be a complaining, overreacting, pregnant lady. I realize now how silly and dangerous my attitude was. If it hadn‘t been for my mom, the nurse, I would have waited until my appointment. By then, it may have been too late. My mom gave me life. My mom saved my life.

Take a look at our new PSA from celebrity mom and imbornto partner, Jessica Alba! Tell us what you were born to do!

Our guest post today is from Mary Lavan, Associate Director of Nursing Education and Health Promotion at the March of Dimes.

It’s National Nurses Week and March of Dimes would like to thank all of the nurses who work so hard to improve the care of moms and babies.

It’s a special week to reflect on the critical work nurses do every day to help advance the mission of the March of Dimes. Nurses are the ones, afterall, who hold moms and babies in their hands. They are health care providers, educators, researchers, advisors and friends. Nurses educate women before they are pregnant about the importance of preconception care and taking folic acid. They provide safe care during labor and care for babies born too early.

Sometimes it’s an emergency room nurse who holds a pregnant woman’s hand during a preterm labor scare, or a pediatric nurse who screens a new mother for postpartum depression. Whatever the situation, nurses play an integral role in helping us get closer to achieving our mission: a day when every baby has a healthy start in life. For that, March of Dimes is forever grateful.
 
As a way of saying thank you for all that nurses do, March of Dimes developed an extensive continuing nursing education program to help nurses integrate the latest clinical and scientific advances into the care of their patients. March of Dimes is also proud to award several scholarships annually to nurses enrolled in graduate maternal-child health nursing programs.

For information about March of Dimes nursing program, visit marchofdimes.com/nursing or contact Mary Lavan at mlavan@marchofdimes.com

Many couples who want to have a baby get frustrated if they don’t get pregnant right away once they start trying. If that’s you, make an effort to relax and learn more about how everything works. There are many steps you can take to help you get pregnant. For example: 
• Learn how ovulation works and calculate when you’re most likely to ovulate. 
• Be on the lookout for signs that you’re pregnant. 
• Learn more about your and your partner’s family health history.

Don’t worry if you don’t get pregnant right away. Most couples who try to get pregnant do so within one year. It may not happen immediately, but chances are it’ll happen soon. If you’ve been trying for more than a year (or six months if you’re older than 35), talk to your health care provider. You can get tests to find out why you’re having problems getting pregnant. Many couples can overcome these problems without needing fertility treatments.

If you’re thinking about fertility treatment to help you get pregnant, talk to your provider about how to get safe treatment while lowering your chance of having multiples (twins, triplets or more). Having multiples can increase the likelihood that you’ll have a premature birth. Babies born prematurely can face many serious health complications, some that can last a lifetime.

You might see ads for at-home genetic tests that provide information like if you’re a carrier of certain genetic diseases that can be passed on to a child. It’s too soon to know if and how these tests can help you during pregnancy. Talk to your health provider if you have questions.

Pelvic organ prolapse occurs when the muscles and ligaments that hold pelvic organs (reproductive organs, urinary bladder, ureter, rectum) in place are stretched or weakened, and the organs slip out of their normal position in your lower belly - they prolapse.

Pelvic organ prolapse often is associated with labor and vaginal childbirth. It also can be related to prior pelvic surgery (including hysterectomy), obesity, constipation, or long-term respiratory problems with a chronic cough.

The type of prolapse depends on the organs that are involved. Organs that may be involved in pelvic organ prolapse include the bladder (the bladder prolapses into the vagina, called cystocele), urethra (urethrocele), small bowel (enterocele), rectum (rectocele), uterus (uterine prolapse), vagina (vaginal vault prolapse).

For some women, pelvic organ prolapse becomes a really uncomfortable problem. It is not always a progressive condition and for a small number of women it may improve over time. Your doctor may try treating it with medications and/or physical therapy, especially if you are not finished having children. The pessary is most commonly used in the management of cystocele and rectocele. A pessary is a small medical device which is inserted into the vagina or rectum and held in place by the pelvic floor musculature and helps to stabilize the area. While any of these options may provide a temporary fix, most often surgery to anchor the organs in place becomes the eventual solution.

Each year, some 15 million babies in the world, more than one in 10 births, are born too early, according to the just released report Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth.

More than one million of those babies die shortly after birth; countless others suffer some type of lifelong physical, neurological, or educational disability, often at great cost to families and society.

An estimated two-thirds to three-quarters of those preterm babies who die could survive without expensive care if a few simple, proven, and inexpensive treatments and preventions were available worldwide, according to more than 100 experts who contributed to the report.
 
Born Too Soon is the first-ever report to document the rate of preterm birth with comparable country-by-country data from around the world, and to identify priority policy and program actions that can substantially reduce the toll of this tragic problem.

Of the 11 countries with preterm birth rates over 15 percent, all but two are in Sub-Saharan Africa. But preterm birth is not just a problem for poor countries. High preterm birth rates are also seen in many high-income countries such as the United States. Preterm babies are born at a higher rate in the U.S. than in 127 other countries of the world, including many poorer nations. The U.S. preterm birth rate of 12.0 per 100 live births is tied with the rates of Somalia, Thailand, and Turkey.

Although we’ve recently seen a four year improvement in the U.S. preterm birth rate, nearly half a million babies still are born too soon each year.  We have to ensure that more moms have healthy, full-term pregnancies and full-term babies.  Everyone has a role to play – we must work together to make preterm birth a priority in the U.S. and on the global health agenda.

Born Too Soon is a joint project of the March of Dimes Foundation, the World Health Organization, the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health, and Saving Newborn Lives/Save the Children.  It also offers commitments to fight preterm birth by almost 50 United Nations agencies, universities, and nonprofit organizations.

To find out more and see an interactive map showing the preterm birth rates in all countries in the report, go to marchofdimes.com/borntoosoon.  Join the March of Dimes on Twitter Thursday, May 3rd at 1 pm EDT in a #borntoosoon global relay twitterchat.

Join the March of Dimes on Twitter Thursday, May 3rd at 1 pm EDT in a #borntoosoon global relay twitterchat.  We will be discussing the “Born Too Soon: Global Report on Preterm Birth,” which will be released on May 2, and interventions such as kangaroo care and steroid injections. During the chat, tell your story to make sure family voices are heard along with the experts. 

The global relay will begin on Twitter at 9am EDT and continue until 4pm EDT.  Follow #borntoosoon on May 3rd at 1pm EDT for the March of Dimes-hosted hour.  We will be tweeting from @marchofdimes and @nacersano.  

The global relay chat is led by the Partnership for Maternal, Newborn and Child Health (PMNCH), Save the Children, the United Nations Foundation (UNF), March of Dimes, the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS) and the Healthy Newborn Network (HNN).  This chat will bring together experts, professionals, advocates and parents in a conversation around preterm birth. 

Releasing on May 2, the “Born Too Soon: The Global Action Report on Preterm Birth” features the first-ever estimates of preterm birth rates by country. The #borntoosoon global relay twitterchat will discuss the latest numbers, commitments and way forward.   Help to raise awareness about preterm birth in the United States and around the world.  Join us and follow #borntoosoon to learn more.