11-Time Olympic Medalist & Co-Founder and
President of Saysh, Allyson Felix,
brings awareness to campaign through her personal experience with
preeclampsia and preterm birth
Campaign expands upon the organization's It
Starts With Mom® platform alongside partners HCA Healthcare,
Clearblue, Goldbug, The Honest Company, Philips Avent, and
Sanofi
ARLINGTON, Va.,
May 1,
2024 /PRNewswire/ -- March of Dimes, the leading
organization fighting for the health of all moms and babies, today
announced the launch of Low Dose, Big Benefits, a multi-year
campaign aimed at decreasing the adverse effects of preeclampsia
and preterm birth through the use of low dose aspirin. The new
campaign will feature US Olympian and Entrepreneur Allyson Felix as
a brand ambassador and is part of the March of Dimes' It Starts
With Mom platform, which provides families with educational
information and resources during their pregnancy journey. It Starts
With Mom is generously supported by trusted partners, including HCA
Healthcare, Clearblue, Goldbug, The Honest Company, Philips Avent,
and Sanofi.
Experience the full interactive Multichannel News Release here:
https://www.multivu.com/players/English/9265251-march-of-dimes-low-dose-big-benefits-to-combat-preeclampsia-and-preterm-birth
May is Preeclampsia Awareness Month, and Low Dose, Big Benefits
aims to promote equal access to critical information for families
and healthcare providers. Preeclampsia is a potentially fatal
condition that causes a pregnant woman's blood pressure to rise and
can lead to preterm birth, heart disease, and other complications.
A new survey, conducted by The Harris Poll on behalf of March of
Dimes, revealed nearly 1 in 5 families had never heard of
preeclampsia with the number rising to over 1 in 4 for Black
families. The Harris Poll also found that only 2 in 10 families
surveyed are extremely or very familiar with medical interventions,
such as low dose aspirin that is available to reduce the risks of
preeclampsia, making this campaign a critical step towards
improving maternal and infant health outcomes.
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention
(CDC), 80% of pregnancy-related deaths are preventable and
hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, like preeclampsia, are among
the leading causes of deaths, particularly for Black moms.
Preeclampsia affects 1 in 25 pregnancies in the US, with potential
impacts on mom and baby during pregnancy, labor, and delivery and
even across both of their lifetimes. Studies show that pregnant
people at an increased risk for preeclampsia who take low dose
aspirin may reduce their risk of preeclampsia by 15% and their risk
of preterm birth by 20%.
"Preeclampsia is a key driver of maternal and infant mortality
and morbidity," said March of Dimes President and CEO Dr.
Elizabeth Cherot. "We know that low
dose aspirin can improve outcomes for both mom and baby and by
equipping families and providers with the knowledge and tools they
need to proactively manage pregnancies, I'm hopeful that we can
make significant strides in reducing poor maternal and infant
health outcomes and potentially save the lives of moms and
babies."
An ongoing key component of the campaign will be to educate
healthcare professionals, including OB-GYNs, midwives, and
pharmacists, on the benefits of low dose aspirin while also
educating pregnant individuals, their families, and the public
about the potential benefits of the intervention and tips on how to
talk to their provider about low dose aspirin. To help with that
effort, the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine has joined March of
Dimes to help amplify the importance of Low Dose, Big Benefits
among its 6,500 members that includes clinicians and
researchers.
March of Dimes' Quality Improvement team will work with doctors
and clinical staff to implement a preeclampsia screening process
for pregnant patients within the first 12 weeks of pregnancy or at
their first prenatal visit. While Low Dose, Big Benefits is a
national campaign, March of Dimes will begin by focusing on
California, Florida, New
York, Pennsylvania, and
Texas where the highest number of
births occur.
"As a mom who had a preeclampsia diagnosis in my first pregnancy
that led to an emergency Cesarean birth (also called C-section) at
32 weeks, I understand the importance of maternal health,
particularly for women of color," said Allyson Felix, record breaking Olympic athlete
and March of Dimes Celebrity Advocate Council member. "During my
second pregnancy, I knew I was already at high-risk of developing
preeclampsia again and through conversations with my provider, who
understood my fear and listened to me, we decided that low dose
aspirin was the right intervention for me and my baby. My second
labor and delivery were healthy, beautiful, and powerful, which is
why partnering with March of Dimes to educate families about the
benefits of low dose aspirin is deeply personal and important to
me."
Low Dose, Big Benefits is the culmination of March of Dimes'
legacy since 1938 of funding research to help millions of babies
survive and thrive. From polio to preterm birth, the organization's
researchers have a long history of making critical discoveries to
solve some of the biggest issues facing moms and babies. In 2011,
they launched the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center (PRC)
at Stanford, which was the nation's
first research center dedicated to identifying the causes of
preterm birth. The organization went on to create the Prematurity
Campaign Roadmap in 2015 that identified eight interventions that
could reduce the preterm birth rate and included low dose aspirin.
In 2021, led by the faculty and staff at the California Maternal
Quality Collaborative (CMQCC), the Stanford PRC invested in a low
dose aspirin initiative and began to move it from research to
implementation.
"We're excited about the progress we've seen in the low dose
aspirin campaign piloted by our partners in California," said Dr. Emre Seli, March of Dimes Chief Scientific
Advisor. "Building on our long history of health research and
innovation combined with the overwhelming amount of data that shows
how low dose aspirin can improve maternal and infant health
outcomes, our Low Dose, Big Benefits campaign will expand awareness
to families across the US and help turn the tide on the maternal
and infant health crisis."
March of Dimes will use their It Starts With Mom platform,
supported by partners, to educate families and providers throughout
the year on maternal health topics, including low dose aspirin,
doulas, vaccines, maternal mental health, and the postpartum
journey as part of the non-profit's mission to improve maternal and
infant health outcomes for all moms and babies.
"We're honored to be a longstanding partner of March of Dimes,
from our 39-Week Initiative to reduce unnecessary C-sections and
improve outcomes for moms and babies to our work to improve
postpartum education," said Amy
Casseri, senior vice president at HCA Healthcare and March
of Dimes National Board of Trustee member. "We know that education
can make a significant impact on the care mothers and babies
receive, and we are proud to be a part of this new campaign."
March of Dimes invites families and providers to tune in this
month and year-round across the organization's platforms to learn
more about maternal and infant health topics, including Low Dose,
Big Benefits:
- May 22 – It Starts With Mom
Live featuring Dr. Cherot, Diana E.
Ramos, MD, MPH, MBA, FACOG, Surgeon General of California, Amanda
Williams, MD, MPH, FACOG, Clinical Innovation Advisor,
California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative, and a mom who
benefited from low dose aspirin.
- May 29 – March of
Dimes' MODCAST in conversation with Dr. Brice Gaudillière, a
researcher at the March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at
Stanford University, who'll highlight a
new machine learning model that can, for the first time, identify
exactly what elements of a woman's biology cause her to have an
elevated risk for preterm birth or preeclampsia.
- May 30 – iHeart Media's
MEternal Podcast with Dr. Cherot and iHeart's Kenya Gipson who will discuss how low dose
aspirin can improve maternal health outcomes especially for moms
and babies of color.
March of Dimes encourages everyone to get involved to help
improve health outcomes for all families:
- To learn more about future events and to access education
resources, visit itstartswithmom.org
- To learn more about Low Dose, Big Benefits, visit
marchofdimes.org/lowdosebigbenefits
- Partners can help the organization amplify Low Dose, Big
Benefits by accessing the partner toolkit at
marchofdimes.org/lowdosetoolkit
- Families can text lowdose to 40789 to give a gift in
support of March of Dimes to help ensure all moms-to-be get access
to information and resources they need.
About March of Dimes
March of Dimes leads the fight for the health of all moms and
babies. We support research, lead programs, and provide education
and advocacy so that every family can have the best possible start.
Since 1938, we've built a successful legacy to support every
pregnant person and every family. Visit marchofdimes.org or
nacersano.org for more information. Find us on Facebook and follow
us with #marchofdimes and @marchofdimes.
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SOURCE March of Dimes Inc.