Inside Duke Medicine
Team captains needed in annual March for Babies
posted February 24th, 2009Duke Medicine will be participating in the March of Dimes annual March for Babies on Saturday, May 2 at Nortel Networks in Research Triangle Park.
Volunteer to serve as a team captains. The job is important, but it will not require a great deal of time on your part. If you’re interested in learning more about the March for Babies or what it takes to serve as a team captain, please join us at the Team Captains Kick-Off Breakfast at 7:30 a.m. on Feb. 26 at the Prestonwood Country Club in Cary.
Please contact Ayana Simon at 668-2744 or via e-mail at obgyndepartment@notes.duke.edu to sign on as a Team Captain.
Many of us know someone who has had a premature baby. And, although the technology now exists to save babies born very prematurely – some as young as 23 weeks of gestation, some weighing less than a pound – many of these “miracle babies” will suffer a lifetime of health problems including blindness, cerebral palsy, mental retardation, chronic lung disease and severe developmental delays.
The March of Dimes is trying to do something about the growing problem of premature birth — the rate of which has increased by 27 percent since 1981. Unfortunately, any woman is at risk — your sister, your daughter, your wife, a co-worker — because in 50 percent of the cases of premature birth, the reason is unknown. The risk exists even if a woman does everything “right” before and during her pregnancy.