The March of Dimes released their Premature Birth Report Card today and America scored a D. Each state recived its own score; Arkansas received an F. You can see the map and find more info here map of 2009 premature report card . No state earned an “A,” and Vermont was the only state that received a “B.”
We were lucky -- Conall only spent 2 weeks in the hospital and Caitlin was small and jaundiced, but was able to come home within a normal time. Many families aren't that lucky and ever since our experience with Conall, I've made it a personal mission to help raise awareness about premature birth. Until the end of my pregnancy, everything had been normal. I thought premature babies were a rarity and that it only happened to people who had major health issues or were carrying multiples.
Obviously, I was wrong and it happens far more often than I knew. And, unfortunately, in many cases medical professionals don't know why the baby was early. Luckily, new research is being done every day. The March of Dimes has a wealth of information on the topic on their Web site. Check out Learn the Facts .
The day after Conall was born, at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) at UAMS
the day after Conall was born
The first time I got to hold Conall -- he was a week old
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