Roll Call fights premature births

March of Dimes volunteers will conduct a Prematurity Roll Call for children in the Jackson County area who were born too soon and too small at 6:30 p.m. Nov. 17 at Seymour Christian Church, 915 Kasting Road.

The Prematurity Roll Call includes reading the names and birth dates of children born prematurely. The candlelight event will also honor those babies lost to prematurity by naming them with their birth date and day they were lost.

When each name is read, the family will light a candle in honor or memory of the child and form a circle of hope in the room.

“The Prematurity Roll Call helps bring awareness to this infant health crisis,” Dr. Courtney Kleber, March of Dimes volunteer, said. “Unless you’ve spent time in a neonatal intensive care unit, you may not understand the struggle, the fight these newborns have to endure. Needles and machines and months of intensive care and sometimes surgeries await most premature babies.

“Prematurity is a major reason why babies are born sick and suffer disabilities,” Kleber added. “Worse yet, it is a fight that many babies lose. Prematurity is the number one cause of newborn death.”

If your child or a child you know was born prematurely and would like to be included in the event, you may e-mail Kimberly Jewell at kjewll@marchofdimes.com or call (800) 737-9255 with the child’s information.