Welcome, dear listeners, to a very special episode of That’s Total Mom Sense. October is Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Month, a time to honor and remember our angel babies.
On this episode, we’ll learn more about the incredible efforts of March of Dimes, an organization that has been at the forefront of supporting families and funding critical research in the realm of infant and maternal health for decades. Their initiatives in this space have touched countless lives, offering hope, compassion, and a beacon of light to those navigating the journey of loss.
We hear from March of Dimes Director of Maternal & Infant Health, Shadie Tofigh,and Advocate, Erika Nolting Young.
Shadie shares the staggering statistics around miscarriage (more than 30% of pregnancies in the US end in miscarriage) as well as other infant loss occurrences including stillbirth, neonatal mortality, SIDS, preterm birth, geographic variability, and gestational age. The overall maternal mortality rate in the U.S. is higher than in many other developed countries, and it has been steadily increasing. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the MMR was 20.1 deaths per 100,000 live births in 2019.
Black women are disproportionately affected by maternal mortality. They are about three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications compared to white women. This disparity persists across all socioeconomic and education levels. According to a report by the CDC, there were approximately 658 pregnancy-related deaths in the United States in 2018. For Black women, the pregnancy-related mortality rate was 37.1 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to 14.7 for white women. March of Dimes aims to mitigate these gaps and provide resources to communities in need.
Erika Nolting Young is an advocate for March of Dimes and shares her story of loss. Her daughter Sommer Vivienne Young passed away hours after her delivery. Heartbroken yet on a mission, she turned to March of Dimes for answers. She and her husband learned more about March of Dimes’ Innovation Fund, which is a venture philanthropy initiative that uses donated funds to invest in early-stage companies to address the most pressing maternal and infant health challenges to improve outcomes and impact moms’ and babies’ lives now. Her family has pledged support in Sommer’s honor to promote groundbreaking research around infant loss.
Learn More:
- WEBSITE: MarchofDimes.org
- FIND SUPPORT: March of Dimes Community
- MARCH FOR BABIES: Kanika’s Donation Page
- SUPPORT RESEARCH: Innovation Fund
