November 17th is World Prematurity Day – Its effect on your Community and Business

Written by Manager on November 10th, 2016. Posted in Blog

For the first time, the complications of preterm birth outranked all other causes as the world’s number one killer of young children.  Premature birth is a very serious health problem. Worldwide, 15 million babies are born preterm and more than a million die as a result. Babies who survive often have lifelong health problems such as cerebral palsy, vision and hearing loss, and intellectual disabilities.

How does premature birth affect businesses?

Premature birth has a major impact on society overall and business in particular. About 1 in 10 babies are born prematurely in the United States each year. Expenses for childbirth and newborn care make up a large part of what employers pay in health insurance costs.

Healthy Babies Healthy Business initiative and how it helps women have healthy pregnancies?

With 1.7 million women in the workforce having a baby each year, employers can do much to help moms and moms-to-be and increase profitability. The March of Dimes Healthy Babies Healthy Business® program is available at no cost to employers looking to help improve pregnancy outcomes within their workforce.  It takes less than 5 minutes for employers to set up their site and give employees access to the program.

March of Dimes and Their Community Impact

In 2003, the March of Dimes launched the Prematurity Campaign to address the crisis and help families have full-term, healthy babies. They are funding lifesaving research and speaking out for legislation that improves care for moms and babies. They also are lead facilitators of the World Prematurity Network, (WPN), a global coalition of consumer and parent groups working together to raise awareness and prevent premature birth in their countries.

November is Prematurity Awareness Month® and when the March of Dimes focuses the nation’s attention on premature birth. The awareness month kicks off with the release of the Premature Birth Report Card. November 17 marks World Prematurity Day, and the March of Dimes and their partner organizations worldwide are asking everyone to help spread the word on the serious problem of premature birth.

Everyone can participate in Prematurity Awareness Month and World Prematurity Day by visiting facebook.com/worldprematurityday where you can share stories and videos about your baby or a baby you love and learn from families around the world. Another way is to support your local March of Dimes chapter.