We're born to appreciate parents!

The March of Dimes imbornto campaign is intended to engage with parents around Mother’s Day and Father’s Day since our quest for “stronger, healthier babies” truly begins with the most important people in babies’ lives – parents! Through our history, our support of parents has been an understated but crucial aspect of addressing the medical and public health problems that have been the focus of our mission. Only a parent can measure most profoundly the personal effects of illness and disability on a child. Our emphasis today on healthy pregnancy and healthy babies implicitly involves parents in our most important objectives. After all, this concern is at the basis of providing “News Moms Need.”

Mother’s Day and Father’s Day are special occasions to honor one’s parents. In the 1950s the March of Dimes recognized Mother’s Day by selecting an annual “Polio Mother of the Year.” But the hoopla surrounding such publicity skirts the momentous fact that the conquest of polio was achieved by millions of women (and men) who joined“Mothers March,” the most successful fund-raiser of those years. “Mothers March on Polio” soon became “Mothers March on Birth Defects,” and the volunteer moms and dads behind these efforts were as much responsible for improving children’s health as the creators of vaccines and the leaders in perinatal breakthroughs. This is but one reason why we laud the contributions of mothers and fathers today.

From Virginia Apgar’s 1972 book of advice to new parents, Is My Baby All Right?, to our decades-long involvement in supporting families undergoing the traumatic experience of a NICU hospitalization, the March of Dimes has appreciated the role of parents in children’s health. Our current push for creating transdisciplinary centers for research on premature birthruns parallel to our propensity for collaboration and team-building, and the role of parents in these endeavors is just as fundamental to the overarching social goals of improving children’s health.

In 1955, the National Father’s Day Committee selected March of Dimes President Basil O’Connor as “Father of the Year.” In the wake of the success of the polio vaccine created with March of Dimes funds by Dr. Jonas Salk, his selection may seem to us all-too-obvious in retrospect. His daughters, Sheelagh O’Connor and Bettyann Culver, attended a recognition luncheon, and the requisite photographs were taken. Among the many letters of congratulations that O’Connor received, one close business contact wrote, “You are a good father, and you are an exceptionally good citizen and good friend.” It is in this spirit of warm appreciation that the March of Dimes pays tribute to mothers and fathers. Hats off to all moms and dads!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers that have been impacted by premature birth, birth defects, and infant mortality. This holiday is in many ways harder for us than for the “ordinary” mom. Many of us have been through the fires and the storms of motherhood pretty early in our journeys as moms. I’d like to share 3 poems about being a mom with you. Hopefully you’ll find one that you relate to and enjoy it as much as I have.

Many of us have a hard time on Mother’s Day because our children are not with us today. Some people don’t even consider us mothers because our children did not survive. This day is many times painful for us because we ARE mothers, we DO have children. Even if we can’t hold them in our arms, we hold them in our hearts forever. On Mother’s Day, there is great focus on those daughters that have mothers in heaven but little or no mention of those of us with sons and daughters in heaven. If you know a mom that has lost a child, please give her a special hug on Mother’s Day and let her know how special she is. We may not be “ordinary” moms but we ARE moms just the same and we love our children dearly.

"The Busiest Day In Heaven"

It's the busiest day in Heaven
I'm planning a big surprise
To let you know I love you
And that no one ever diesEven though your down below
And I am up above
I'm sending you my wishes
And all my angel love

It's really quite exciting
To plan this big event
For lots of gifts will come your way
And all are Heaven sent

First I'll take a bubble bath-
My splashes might cause some rain
But knowing all the fun I'm having
Will help to ease your pain

Next I'll get some pictures
In my halo and gown
So when you get to Heaven
You can show me all around

I have color crayons in Heaven
And I will draw some stars so bright
And place them in the sky today
For you to see tonight

Then Jesus will have story time
And I will sit upon his lap
He'll tell me all about you
Just before I nap

I'll awake full of energy
And play a game or two
Before I finish sending
All my love to you

After snack I'll write a song
For all the birds to sing
And know I've made you happy
With all the joy it brings

At night time I'll be tired
But I'll still hold you tight
My arms will wrap around you
And keep you through the night

And when you finally slumber
I will kneel and pray
Asking God to bless you
On this special Mothers Day

Love,
Your Little Angel

To mothers of preemies, Mother’s Day carries special meaning because our children came too early like unexpected visitors to our door. We were just starting to prepare for these little people to enter our lives but we didn’t have the nursery ready, we didn’t have all the supplies we needed, and we had no idea that the hardships of motherhood would come so early on. I’m sure we all heard stories while we were pregnant about how hard being a mom can be, how toddlers will keep you running and how teenagers might break our hearts. We knew to be prepared for that but nothing in a pregnancy book could prepare us for the NICU journey we were about to take. We had no idea that it could be days, weeks, or even months before we could hold our children. We didn’t know that when our children were the sickest, we couldn’t hold them at all. We didn’t know that we could not give them their 1st bath, their 1st bottle, or many other firsts we would miss with them. We weren’t prepared for the fact we would need to learn how to feed them from a feeding tube, stimulate them to breathe when they stopped, or that we wouldn’t hear them cry for months in many cases. Many people tried to reassure me by saying that my son and daughter would not remember any of this. However, I remember EVERYTHING. Mothers like us look into the eyes of those 2, 4, 6 year olds & we know what great courage and strength it took for those children to be here. No, Mother’s day is not the same for us. We are not “ordinary” moms.