Webcast: March of Dimes Prematurity Awareness Forum
WATCH THE VIDEO: March of Dimes-San Antonio hosted a Prematurity Awareness Month forum Wednesday, Nov. 9 from at the San Antonio Public Library Central Branch, first floor auditorium.
In the first video, Metro Health Director Dr. Thomas Schlenker discusses the premature birth problem in the San Antonio area.
The second video features keynote speaker Dr. Diane Ashton, March of Dimes deputy medical director. Ashton, a leader in the national office of March of Dimes, discussed racial disparities, infant mortality and preterm birth.
In the last video, Tracy Holmes-Brazil of the San Antonio March of Dimes Chapter discusses ways people can get involved.
Editor's Note: NOWCastSA intended to livestream this event, but due to circumstances beyond our control, the live webcast was not possible. Complete video of this event is available for viewing right here. We apologize for any inconvenience, and will do all we can to avoid this type of service interruption in the future.
Noah Almanza, director of the San Antonio division of the March of Dimes, said the goal is to make people aware of how serious a problem preterm birth is.
"In Texas in 1009, the annual incidence of of preterm birth was higher than lung and breast cancer combined," Almanza said. "Our mission is to improve the health of babies."
Almanza said San Antonio Mayor Juliàn Castro's SA2020 goal of reducing preterm birth rate from the current rate of 13.1 percent to 9.6 percent in 2020.
Ashton will also speak about March of Dimes initiatives and goals that aim to decrease the rate of preterm birth and low birth weight infants.
The forum is sponsored by San Antonio Healthy Start.
According to the March of Dimes national prematurity campaign, one in eight babies in the United States and 13 million babies worldwide are born premature.
The campaign aims to honor the million babies worldwide who died this year because they were born too soon, and the 12 million more who struggle to survive. Nov. 17 is World Prematurity Day.
March of Dimes World Prematurity Day organizers hope you will:
- “Like” World Prematurity Day on March of Dimes Facebook page. Read stories from around the world and share your own.
- Help spread the word by updating your Facebook status with a message on premature birth.
