February 21, 2008 issue
March of Dimes Foothills Division Hosts March for Babies Team Captain Kickoff
Story by Celeste von Mangan
Premature birth is the number one cause of newborn death in the United States and has reached epidemic proportions, according to the March of Dimes Foundation. The organization strives to give babies a healthy start and reduce premature birth. On Tuesday, February 19, the March of Dimes held its annual team captain kickoff at the Watauga Medical Center Auditorium in Boone. This year’s fundraising campaign has a new name: March for Babies. In previous years, the fundraiser was known as WalkAmerica.
“We hold the March of Dimes March for Babies kickoff every year to educate and excite our team captains,” said Kristy Mast, March of Dimes Carolina Foothills community director.
Each year, teams composed of friends, family and colleagues raise funds and awareness for premature babies and those with birth defects. The money raised goes directly for research to determine the causes of premature birth and how it can be prevented, to support families with babies who must spend time in the neonatal intensive care units and to provide women with the latest information on having a healthy pregnancy.
Those who attended the event included Richard Sparks, CEO and president of Appalachian Regional Healthcare and chair of the March of Dimes Carolina Foothills Division, and Celia Trivette, an 85 year-old Boone resident who is the 74th top individual March for Babies fundraiser in the nation. The presidents of Blowing Rock Hospital and Cannon Memorial Hospital were present, as were the March of Dimes Foothills Division Ambassador Family—Christina, husband Christopher and children Dylan Michael and Kylie Shay Wyatt. Christina shared her story and described her March of Dimes experience.
“Kylie was born premature at 35 weeks and weighed 4 pounds, 14 ounces,” said Christina. “I had no health problems with either child and from what we could tell everything was fine with her until she started having some problems. When she was two days old, we found out she had a right-sided congenital diaphragmatic hernia. She stayed in the NICU at mission hospital in Asheville for two weeks. It was a very long two weeks for us, and to the doctor’s surprise, Kylie did much better than what was anticipated. She is a fighter.”
Since those hard first weeks, Christina reported, Kylie has had a few problems, including respiratory syncytial virus, influenza and pneumonia. The support and education provided by the March of Dimes helped the Wyatt family cope throughout, beginning with Kylie’s birth and up to the present.
“Because of the March of Dimes, we have learned a lot about prematurity and birth defects,” said Christina. “They have been a big help and we really appreciate them for doing all they do to help fight birth defects.”
Current statistics indicate that 120,000 babies are born with serious birth defects every year; babies born too soon are more likely to die or have lifelong disabilities.
As an ambassador for the March of Dimes, Christina had a message to impart to the public, on behalf of all premature babies and those born with defects: “Please, if you are pregnant or thinking about getting pregnant, please go to the March of Dimes website and learn all you can about having the healthiest baby possible. Even if you think everything is fine—which is what I thought—sometimes things don’t go as you planned. So please, check out their website. After you read it, you will find out there are people to call, to talk to you if you need them.”
For more information, call the March of Dimes office in Conover at 828-464-8905 or click to www.marchofdimes.com. Online registration forms for the March for Babies 2008 fundraiser scheduled for Saturday, April 12, on the ASU campus, are also available at the website.
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