Nov. 15, 2004

March of Dimes' task force plans press conference to announce results of premature birth study and ways to reduce the risk

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By Sara Long

RICHMOND, Va., Nov. 15, 2004 – The March of Dimes will announce the results of an 18-month-long, national study on premature birth and issue its recommendations for reducing the number of children born before term in Virginia and the rest of the United States at a news conference Nov. 18 at Virginia Commonwealth University.

The Virginia chapter of the March of Dimes' press conference is in conjunction with Prematurity Awareness Day and will be held at the VCU Medical Center's Main Hospital, 6th Floor, 1250 E. Marshall St., at 10 a.m. Jane H. Woods, Virginia's secretary of health and human resources, will present the findings, along with Gary Gutcher, M.D., division chair of neonatal-perinatal medicine at the VCU Medical Center. Michelle Finn, prematurity campaign ambassador and mother of pre-term twins, also will speak.

Following the press conference, tours will be given of VCU’s neonatal intensive care unit.

In 2003, the March of Dimes launched a five-year, $75 million Prematurity Campaign to increase public awareness of the problems associated with prematurity and to decrease the overall number of pre-term births in the United States by at least 15%.

One in nine babies born in Virginia is premature and the rate of such births in Virginia rose 4 percent between 1992 and 2002. In 2002, an estimated 12,000 infants were born prematurely, ranking Virginia 23rd in the country in the number of pre-term births.

Premature birth is a serious, costly and growing public health crisis and the leading cause of neonatal death – accounting for nearly 24 percent of deaths in the first month of life. According to the National Center for Health Statistics, the percentage of babies born prematurely has risen to more than 12 percent, the highest level in two decades and a 27 percent increase since 1982.

Note to reporters: Please meet at the information desk on the first floor of Main Hospital at 9:45 a.m. for hospital escort to conference.

About March of Dimes

The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. We carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies' lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health: prematurity, birth defects, low birthweight. For more, see www.marchofdimes.com.