March of Dimes, whose mission is to give every baby a healthy start, has launched an exciting new research program in partnership with Stanford University, one of the premier research intuitions in the world. This video demonstrates the commitment and enthusiasm of some of the 130 renowned medical and biological researchers embarking on a unique transdisciplinary approach to put an end to premature birth.
In 1952, James Watson was an unknown scientist who applied to the March of Dimes for a fellowship proposing research on X-ray diffraction patterns of proteins and nucleic acids. Knowing that the March of Dimes funded basic science as well as polio prevention, Watson hoped that the grant he would receive might enable him to conduct a year of research and cover his lab expenses. His modest grant award of $5,678, roughly equivalent to $50,000 today, led to one of the most momentous discoveries of the age. On April 25, 1953 Watson and his colleague Francis Crick published “A Structure for Deoxyribose Nucleic Acid” in the journal Nature. The field of molecular genetics was launched. They had discovered the double-helical structure of DNA.
Much has been written about Watson and Crick’s famous discovery, for which they received the Nobel Prize in 1962. Their path-breaking research vastly expanded the field of genetics, leading to knowledge unimaginable in their day. Their accomplishment also prefigured what the March of Dimes would do next. After funding the vaccines that brought the scourge of polio to a halt, the Foundation turned to the riddle of birth defects, knowing that the keys of genetics would open further doors to this intractable problem.
By the 1960s, the March of Dimes sponsored birth defects and clinical genetics conferences to keep medical professionals up-to-date with progress in the field. We helped to develop a universal standardized language (the karyotype) to describe human chromosomes. At a March of Dimes conference in 1969, Dr. Victor McKusick proposed that science might create a molecular map of all genes. His idea sparked the March of Dimes to organize a series of human gene mapping workshops that ultimately led to the Human Genome Project of the 1990s.
Our interest in genetics goes beyond science itself to assisting individuals and families. We have developed the field of genetic counseling to help parents and parents-to-be understand the risks of inherited disorders. We helped to establish the first master’s degree program in genetic counseling at a U.S. college. In the 1980s we sponsored an educational program on Genetic Decision Making and Pastoral Care, enabling clergy from different religions to understand the complexities of genetics in order to give appropriate counseling to concerned families. At the same time, our funding of scientific research has remained fundamental. Our grantees have identified the gene for Fragile X Syndrome and have created therapies for other life-threatening disorders.
As we note the 60th anniversary of Watson and Crick’s famous article on the double helix of DNA, we look forward to a time when birth defects and premature birth have receded into the past just as polio has done. Our steadfast commitment to “stronger, healthier babies” is grounded in the building blocks of genetics that help us identify the causes of disease.
While 17P, a form of progesterone, has been shown to prevent premature delivery among about one-third of women who are pregnant with a single baby and who have experienced a prior preterm delivery, the latest research shows that 17P prescriptions can’t do the same for moms having twins.
“Twins are very high risk for preterm delivery, in fact, 60 percent of twins are born too soon. We can’t assume that what works for singleton pregnancies will work with multiples such as twins or triplets,” says Edward R. B. McCabe, MD, PhD, March of Dimes senior vice president and medical director. “This research finding is valuable because it will guide the care of women with a multi-fetal pregnancy, and highlights the need to better understand how to prevent preterm births for multiples.”
“We found that 17P was not effective in women with twin pregnancies and a short cervix (defined as less than 25 mm between 24 and 32 weeks),” says Philippe Deruelle, MD, with the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Hôpital Jeanne de Flandre, Université Lille 2, France, and one of the study’s authors. “We actually seemed to have found an increase in the rate of preterm delivery before 32 weeks in the treatment group when compared to the non-treatment group.”
For the study, Dr. Deruelle and his colleagues conducted their trial on 165 women over the age of 18 at 10 university hospitals between June 2006 and January 2010. Outcome data was available for 161 of the 165 (97.6%) women. (The study’s title is Prevention of preterm delivery by 17 alpha-hydroxyprogesterone caproate in asymptomatic twin pregnancies with a short cervix: a randomized controlled trial, and was presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine’s 33rd annual meeting last week.)
Dr. Deruelle recommends that women who know they are pregnant with twins get an ultrasound to measure their cervical length, as this factor has shown to predict which women with twins are at higher risk for premature pregnancy.
Hopefully, future research will help to shed light on ways to prevent pretem births for women who are pregnant with multiples.
The March of Dimes has been helping families by focusing on improving the health of babies and children for 75 years. We all aspire to provide the best care and comfort for our children.
Over half a century ago, when paralytic polio threatened our children, Danny Kaye and Bing Crosby projected a similar message to pitch for the March of Dimes. The photo above, with March of Dimes poster boy Delbert Dains, was taken on the stage set for the movie White Christmas, released in 1954. The song “White Christmas,” by Irving Berlin and which Crosby first popularized in 1942, remains the best-selling single of all time. That Bing Crosby was one of the three “ultra icons” of pop music (the others are Elvis Presley and the Beatles) is undoubtedly lost to most people today, but a person viewing this photo in 1954 might recognize a familiar set of associations typical of that era: a child disabled by contagious disease, the most popular singer of the age, and the nostalgic pull of the meaning of Christmas and the emotional security of home.
The March of Dimes message has evolved, just as our mission has evolved. Our fervent wish for “stronger, healthier babies” is the bedrock from which all of our educational programs and scientific research are launched. From that perspective, and in the spirit of the season, we hope all the readers of News Moms Need will find that special place in the coming weeks “where tree tops glisten, and children listen…” Happy Holidays from the March of Dimes.
Join us on Twitter on Friday November 16th at 3 PM ET to participate in a global relay on premature birth.
Hear from our global network partners: European Foundation for the Care of Newborn Infants (Europe), @EFCNIwecare; Bliss Baby Charity (United Kingdom), @blisscharity; National Premmie Foundation (Australia), @premmfoundation; Little Big Souls International Foundation (Africa), @littlebigsoulsi; and others.
Parents from around the world are encouraged to take part and share their stories. Be sure to use #worldprematurityday to actively participate.
Although the relay chat is on Friday, Saturday November 17th is the actual World Prematurity Day. We will be tweeting and would love to see pictures of preemies from around the world. Please join us then and share your photos on #worldprematurityday.
We’re so close! Three weeks ago with your signatures you helped us launch the White House petition as a symbol of hope for families whose children are born too soon. Just as the March of Dimes and President Roosevelt galvanized America to defeat polio, today millions of March of Dimes volunteers are working to support research and programs to identify the causes of premature birth.
We now are asking you, our volunteers and supporters, to share the opportunity to sign the petition with 10 of your friends and family. If each one of us adds 10 people to the petition, it will succeed. Help to honor babies born prematurely by lighting in purple the birthplace of the March of Dimes: the White House.
The petition can be found at http://1.usa.gov/T0l7ze. Thank you so much!
Blessings to all the courageous men and women who rescued delicate premature babies from a failing neonatal ICU during the devastating throws of hurricane Sandy.
In a normal NICU hospital setting, highly trained doctors, nurses, therapists and other professionals monitor a baby’s every breath. These fragile beings are totally dependent on all of us for regulating their breathing, body heat, heart rate, and nutrition and it can be a tricky balancing act in the best of times. Here is a link to just some of the many things related to life in the NICU. How frightening it must have been for everyone to see the mechanical systems failing. That’s where the trained and compassionate medical personnel really shone.
It took multiple people to transfer the isolettes, oxygen, monitors. They needed to be carried down multiple flights of stairs, into the stormy night to waiting ambulances to carrying them to safety. Some babies were tucked skin-to-skin against a nurses warm body (kangaroo care) to keep them warm. Can you imagine being the parent of one of these fragile babies?
If you or a friend or family member experienced the added anxiety of having a baby in a NICU during last week’s storm, or in the power outages that have followed, please feel free to share your story with us and others. How are you coping? What would you like to hear from others and what suggestions do you have?
Please remember that November is Prematurity Awareness Month and November 17th is World Prematurity Day. Please join the March of Dimes in our efforts to spread the word about the seriousness of premature birth. And don’t forget to thank the docs and nurses you meet for their amazing and caring work.
As part of March of Dimes 75th anniversary activities, the March of Dimes is petitioning to Light the White House Purple on January 3, 2013, as a symbol of hope for families whose children are born too soon. Our goal is to secure a total of 25,000 signatures in 30 days. Sign the online petition today and share the link on Facebook and Twitter with your friends and family. http://1.usa.gov/T0l7ze
Photo courtesy of David Niblack
Expected to be her family’s Halloween treat, Catharine Aboulhouda instead arrived on the Fourth of July, weighing 1 pound, 10 ounces.
