Dear Friend,

 Although 2009 was a very challenging year, I am proud to share with you that the March of Dimes mission is strong thanks to people like you.

Here are some of the 2009 mission accomplishments we can all be proud of:

• We let the world know that premature birth is a global crisis — 13 million babies are born too soon each year, and 1 million die.
• We opened 24 new NICU Family Support® sites, to provide hope, comfort and information to more than 65,000 families.
• We are awarding six new grants in our Prematurity Research Initiative, bringing the total investment to more than $15 million.
• Finally, we achieved our goal in newborn screening — all states now require testing babies for at least 26 serious but treatable disorders.

Thank you for doing so much to help moms and babies.

My warmest wishes for a wonderful holiday season,

Dr. Jennifer L. Howse
President

In Washington, your e-mails, phone calls and visits helped convince Congress to expand the Children's Health Insurance Program, so that more pregnant women and children can get the care they need. You also helped get the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act signed into law, which will reduce exposure to second-hand smoke and encourage more women and children not to take up smoking. And your voice helped to secure federal funding for prematurity-related research as well as ongoing funding for the National Children's Study.

Closer to home, your advocacy resulted in 64 victories in nearly every state. These "wins" for moms and babies include many important issues — newborn screening, smoking cessation programs, birth defects surveillance and more.

The March of Dimes recommends that all pregnant women should get shots for seasonal flu and H1N1 flu (also called swine flu). For the woman and the baby she's carrying, any kind of flu is much more dangerous than getting the shots. Although shipments of the H1N1 vaccine were delayed, the supply is now increasing. So all pregnant women should call their health care providers today to schedule their shots.

The March of Dimes has just produced an online video about this important topic.

SPOTLIGHT: Little Leaguer Alex Breitenbach

When you see nine-year-old Alex Breitenbach playing catcher in Little League, skiing down black diamond mogul trails or placing his tee shot 150 yards in the center of the fairway, you’d never believe he weighed 2 pounds, 1 ounce at birth — about the same size as a tiny little stuffed Tigger toy in his Isolette®.

Alex was born prematurely at 27 weeks via emergency c-section to save his and his mother's life. After his birth, Alex spent 64 days in the newborn intensive care unit at Stamford Hospital in Connecticut before his parents, Brenda and Paul, could bring him home. "Having a severe preemie really helps you appreciate how many important developmental milestones occur in the third trimester," Brenda said. "As a result of such early delivery, preemies have an unimaginable number of hurdles to overcome. They have to learn how to breathe and how to eat."