I had another post here, which you may have caught in your reader.
I took it down.
Not because it was offensive or low brow, but I felt it was insensitive. I didn’t realize the date before I hit publish.
Today is not about my flourishing 18 month old baby boy, who has had an easy and uneventful go at the world since day one *touch wood*.
Today is instead about those who have not.
Today is about those sweet babies whom were born prematurely and have fought brave, hard and long battles to make our world all the more better.
Today is a day to stand up and help these small tiny children battle against the fight for their lives.
Today we FIGHT.
In An Average Week in the United States*:
10,440 babies are born preterm
1,664 babies are born very preterm
6,769 babies are born low birthweight
1,217 babies are born very low birthweight
- In 2006, there were 542,893 preterm births in the United States, representing 12.8% of live births.
- Between 1996 and 2006, the rate of infants born preterm in the United States increased more than 16%.
- During 2004-2006 (average) in the United States, preterm birth rates were highest for women ages 40 and older (16.8%), followed by women under age 20(14.7%), ages 30-39 (12.7%) and ages 20-29 (12.1%).
- During 2004-2006 (average) in the United States, preterm birth rates were highest for black infants (18.3%), followed by Native Americans (14.1%), Hispanics (12.1%), whites (11.6%) and Asians (10.7%).
- In 2005, the annual societal economic cost (medical, educational, and lost productivity) associated with preterm birth in the United States was at least $26.2 billion.
For them.
