by Erica Gower, Kangeroo Katie/ Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS)

OPINION

Mother and Child: Erica and Katie After Birth

I didn’t realize how perfectly my first pregnancy and delivery had gone until I almost died giving birth to my second child. Instead of another “seamless” pregnancy, I suffered complications at 31 weeks.  As a result, my pregnancy ended way too soon – cut short by an emergency Caesarean section.

Even though I lost a lot of blood, I was able to go home four days later…but without my baby.  My new baby girl, Katie, spent six weeks in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) while her respiratory and immune systems matured.

A few days after we finally Katie home, she contracted viral meningitis.  We didn’t know if she would make it. That’s how we lived during Katie’s first year.  We learned that the life of a preemie is scary, unknown, and sudden.

Thankfully today, against the odds, Katie is a healthy, active child. We are so grateful that none of her health issues remain. Unfortunately, we know many other families who either lost their babies to prematurity or who face a lifetime of medical complications. The economic and emotional costs on a family can be astronomical.

Happy Together: Erica and Katie Today

Premature birth is a global problem and 13 million babies are born prematurely each year. Globally, prematurity is the leading cause of death for newborns and the second leading cause of death in children under age five. One in eight infants are born before their mother’s pregnancy comes to term.

Despite tremendous progress in care that have improved a preemie’s chances of survival, we still don’t know why so many infants are born prematurely.  We need more research to discover what causes premature birth – so we can ultimately prevent it.

It’s incredibly encouraging that the Global Alliance to Prevent Prematurity and Stillbirth (GAPPS), an initiative set forth by  Seattle Children’s, recently announced a new $20 million program aimed at exactly that – mobilizing the scientific community to look beyond the only two known treatments for prematurity (smoking cessation and progesterone therapy) to identify its causes.

This program, Grand Challenges in Global Health: Preventing Preterm Birth, is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and aims to new find new medical interventions that will prevent premature births.

This is an important first step, but will still not be enough.

My daughter’s premature birth inspired me to take on a new role in my life – that of an activist. And in that role, I am raising my voice and telling my story. I do it so more families know they’re not alone and more leaders are inspired to take action. It’s our responsibility to raise awareness of this growing and critical health challenge. It’s the only way our leaders will realize that prematurity prevention must become a higher priority.

I share my story through my blog and by participating in the Tiny Footprints Guild, which supports the important work GAPPS does.

Do you have a premature birth story to tell?

If you’ve had a child, the odds are that one in eight of you do. And I hope you have the courage to tell it.

TAKE ACTION: For more information on the research to prevent preterm birth, please visit GAPPS.