Working Together for Stronger, Healthier Babies

Throughout its organizational history, March of Dimes has tackled the problems of the nation's moms, babies and families. Campaigns have supported polio, birth defects, folic acid, newborn screening and premature birth. Today, the March of Dimes is inspired by all babies – those born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive. They are the millions of reasons behind our urgent mission and why the March of Dimes: fights for health insurance for all pregnant women and children; pushes for expanded newborn screening that could save lives and prevent disability; reaches out to women with healthy–pregnancy information and services; provides comfort and information to families with a newborn in intensive care; supports all–important research offering hope for preventions and solutions for babies born with birth defects.

Grace Rennhack was born with a congenital heart defect that was detected during the routine newborn screening process. She went on to spend 4 days in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) before she was discharged. At approximately 6 weeks old, a team of cardiologists repaired Grace’s pulmonary valve using the balloon valvuloplasty method. During Grace’s first year of life, she was required to see her cardiologist every 3 months, but as she got older the visits became less frequent – Grace, who is 12 now, is only required to be tested every 3 years. It is possible that the man-made valve that Grace has will need to be replaced when she is in her late 40s.

In most cases, we do not know what makes a baby’s heart develop abnormally, but research promises to bring us the answers. A number of scientists funded by March of Dimes are studying genes that may underlie specific heart defects or seeking to identify new genes that may cause heart defects. The goal of this research is to better understand the causes of congenital heart defects, in order to develop ways to prevent them.

Locally, March of Dimes is a leader in birth defects research, which offers hope for treatments and preventions while saving babies, like Grace, from death or disability. In 2011, UT Southwestern Medical Center received $2 million in active research grants from March of Dimes. An endowment from the Texas Chapter and matching funds from UTSWMC led to the formation of the North Texas March of Dimes Birth Defects Center in 2003 -- the first collaborative and interactive birth defects research facility in the nation.

More than 4 million babies are born in the United States each year and March of Dimes has helped each and every one through research, education, vaccines and breakthroughs.

Support March of Dimes work to give every baby a healthy start in life by making a 100 percent tax deductible gift in honor of stronger, healthier babies.

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