March for Babies -Service Highlight!

By Kirstin Youmans, 365 Days of Service, Gainsville Chapter

A story of Lauren:  When Lauren’s parents were expecting her, their first child, they expected a normal pregnancy.  Lauren’s mom was healthy and got regular prenatal care from her doctor; she did everything she was supposed to do.  But instead of the normal 40 weeks of pregnancy, Lauren’s parents had a surprise, and Lauren came early.  She was born at 26 weeks.  She weighed 2 pounds and 1 ounce.  As doctors and nurses cared for her, helped her to breathe through under-developed lungs, and helped her body grow bigger and stronger, Lauren stayed at the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at the hospital.  She stayed there for almost 5 months.  For 5 months, her parents could not take their new baby home with them, but instead spent hours upon hours with her in the hospital.

Lauren is now a healthy 6-year-old.  She survived her premature birth, but many babies do not.  One in 8 babies is born premature, and premature birth is the number one killer of newborns.

The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, infant mortality, and premature birth.  Money goes toward research about what causes prematurity and birth defects, toward educating women about how to have healthier pregnancies, and toward supporting the families of babies in the NICU, among other things.

I started volunteering for the March of Dimes while I was in high school.  The March of Dimes believes in the power of youth, and I was a member of a youth leadership council, where I learned a lot.  I remained a highly involved volunteer through college, spending hours each week teaching my peers about how healthy lifestyles affect pregnancies, recruiting people to help the March of Dimes, and fundraising for the March of Dimes.  After college, I continued to participate in the annual walkathon each year -- March for Babies -- and during this time I had the opportunity to meet many children affected by birth defects such as spina bifida, congenital heart defects, and cleft lip.  I learned of these children’s courage and challenges.  I imagined a day when we know how to prevent all birth defects, and these experiences strengthened my passion for the March of Dimes.

Now, years later, I am no longer a volunteer, but a new staff member of the March of Dimes, and I work with our youth volunteers!

Though my role has changed, I am still doing individual fundraising.  My minimum goal for myself this year is to raise at least $1,000 for healthier babies, and my stretch goal is $2,000!  I would love your help.

When people sign up to participate in their local March for Babies, they can create their very own secure fundraising page that accepts credit cards, debit cards, and PayPal.  My page is at http://www.marchforbabies.org/KirstinCYoumans .  If you would like to donate and help save babies, go to my page, read my story, and then click on the “Donate Now!” button.

If you would like to instead find a March for Babies near you and participate yourself, go to http://www.marchforbabies.org and click “find an event.”