Maine’s first lady visits neonatal unit
LEWISTON
Premature births still take a tremendous toll in life and long-term health consequences, and Maine’s first lady, Karen Baldacci, is on a mission to inform the public.
On a tour of Central Maine Medical Center’s Neonatal Intensive Care Unit Thursday morning, Baldacci said, “What’s most striking to me is the increase in premature births. In Maine, that’s one in 10 births, and we’re up 36 percent in 10 years, and we don’t know why.”
Baldacci, who is honorary chairwoman in Maine of the March of Dimes’ Prematurity Campaign, said, “The technology is there; we’re saving these babies. Our goal with the March of Dimes campaign is to prevent them from being born too early and too small.”
In about half the pre-term births, the reason isn’t known, she said. Mothers-to-be are eating right, taking their vitamins, seeing their doctors, gaining the right weight, “and we’re still seeing such large increases in the deliveries of premature babies.”
Possible factors she noted include women waiting longer to have babies, more in vitro fertilizations and multiple births, and problems associated with substance abuse.
“With adequate dollars and research, hopefully we can identify those unknowns out there,” she said.
The governor’s wife visited a new mother who sat next to her child in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. The mother was able to hold and feed her child, while remaining close to the NICU’s high-tech equipment and expert nursing care. Nearby, a nurse attended another pre-term infant born the previous day.
Baldacci said she appreciates the importance of the Prematurity Campaign because she, like so many people, has had close personal experience.
“My sister-in-law had a premature second baby. She was in that undefined category. She had a normal full-term first delivery, and though they did everything they should have done, she still had a baby at 32 weeks,” she said.
“They’re doing fine,” she added, “but we’re all searching for answers, especially when the numbers of these babies is rising.”
Each week, 262 babies are born in Maine, and 25 of them are pre-term.
“The governor and I are committed to finding ways to help make meaningful differences to families in Maine,” she said. “Surveys indicate that people are generally not aware of the growing incidence and the associated health problems often caused by premature birth. I would like to help Maine families better understand the risk factors, and help the March of Dimes fund research for education and prevention.”
On the arrival of the first lady at CMMC, Deni Sevit, a 4-year-old who weighed only 15 ounces at birth, presented a bouquet of roses to the first lady. She spent some time chatting with the youngster and helping her pick out one of the roses for herself.
Deni’s mother, Linda Sevit, said, “Without NICU, I’m sure she wouldn’t be here.”
Dr. Marc Perlman, chief of neonatology at CMMC, along with several staff members of the hospital’s NICU, showed Baldacci the NICU equipment. Also on hand for the tour were Peter Chalk, CMMC president and chief executive officer, and Laird Covey, CMMC chief operating officer.
Sharon Y. Schulberger, director of program services for the Maine chapter of March of Dimes, said the Prematurity Campaign is a five-year, $75 million effort across the country.
“There aren’t going to be any silver bullets,” she said. “We’re going to have to attack the issue of prematurity in many different ways.”
Founded in 1938, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community service, education and advocacy.
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