The March of Dimes

[Mel]

Article featured in Avatar - Volume 3, Issue 7 (January 2010).

The March of Dimes
By Katrina

January, the start of the new year, is Birth Defects month. In lieu of this, we have chosen The March of Dimes as our January Cause of the Month. The March of Dimes, an organization that has made many notable accomplishments since it's founding, fights to prevent and raise awareness about three main things: birth defects, premature births, and infant immortality. The March of Dimes actually began in 1916 with the great polio epidemic that swept the United States in the beginning years of the Great Depression. When Franklin Roosevelt became a victim of this crippling illness in 1921. Polio has been defeated, but the March of Dimes lives on. Today, because the amount of premature babies born topples numbers even as high as 525,000, the March of Dimes continues to support research to stop premature birth and works to educate future months and fathers about the importance of striving to take steps to a healthy pregnancy.

In terms of research done, the March of Dimes has funded research conducted specifically on gene therapy that was used to treat hemophilia successfully for the first time. Though there have been many more amazing feats made through research funded by the March of Dimes, the treatment of hemophilia was definitely a shining moment in the history of the March of Dimes.

As mentioned, the March of Dimes also puts forth immense efforts to educated parents about the importance of doing what's best for the baby during the nine months before the baby is born. They actually have their own website, the Pregnancy and Newborn Health Education Center, which can be found at http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/pnhec.asp. This contains a plethora of very helpful articles on any pregnancy and childcare related topics from birth defects to the importance of good nutrition during and before pregnancy. This organization also provides pregnant women and future fathers with an email service, which can be found at http://www.marchofdimes.com/pnhec/173_1453.asp, which is staffed by various health care professionals.

Finally, the March of Dimes recognizes the inability of far too many parents to pay for proper health care of their children. So, they fund a number of people in the United States and are working to get health insurance and proper health care for all infants whose parents are unable to afford this kind of proper care that is so vital at the beginning of life.

For more information on the fantastic work that the March of Dimes is doing today and to find out how to can help, please visit http://www.marchofdimes.com/.

[Manavenzh]

great story guys

[Manavenzh]

could I share my story in here ?