Georgia Receives Second March of Dimes NICU Family Support(...( March of Dimes Selects Atlanta Me...),Health

March of Dimes Selects Atlanta Medical Center for State's Second Site

ATLANTA, Nov. 6 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --- The March of Dimes today announced that it has named Atlanta Medical Center as Georgia's second hospital recipient of its signature program, NICU Family Support(R). March of Dimes NICU Family Support(R) provides information and comfort to families of premature and other critically ill newborns being cared for in a Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah was the first recipient and launched its project in February 2006.

"Preparing for a new baby is a time of great excitement," said Mark Gibson, state director of March of Dimes Georgia chapter. "Families don't expect anything to go wrong, but each year approximately 1 in 8 newborns wind up in a NICU because they are born too soon, too small or with a birth defect. The experience can be overwhelming for families. NICU Family Support(R) aims to make the journey through newborn intensive care smoother and less traumatic for families."

The project is an important component of the March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign, a multi-year effort to address the growing problem of premature birth, which is the leading cause of newborn death in America. The causes of nearly half of all premature births are unknown, leaving all families at risk. Other initiatives include March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Month(R) in November and Every Baby Has a Story, a recently launched campaign uniting families to tell stories online of the babies in their lives and ultimately raise awareness of the ways to help every baby have a healthy start. For more information on Prematurity Awareness Month and Every Baby Has a Story, visit http://www.marchofdimes.com/everybaby.

In 2004, there were 17,703 preterm births in Georgia. In an average week in our state, 340 babies are born preterm. In 2
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