The date 17 November was chosen at the first EFCNI Parent Organisations Meeting in Rome, Italy, because on that day a founding member of EFCNI became the proud father of a daughter after having lost his triplets due to
.
In 2010, the US organization March of Dimes, the African organization Little BigSouls, the Australian National Premmie Foundation, and EFCNI joined together across continents to celebrate this special day.
Key Facts
WHO provided the first definition of preterm birth in 1948. The average pregnancy lasts for approximately 37 to 42 weeks.
Every baby born before the completion of 37 weeks of pregnancy (also called weeks of gestation) is considered preterm.
- 15 million babies are born preterm annually.
- Leading cause of death for children under 5, causing an estimated 1 million deaths.
- Many survivors face a lifetime of disability, including learning disabilities and visual hearing problems.
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Across 184 countries, the rate of preterm birth ranges from 5% to 18% of babies born. - In low-income countries, half of the premature babies born die due to a lack of feasible, cost-effective, and primary care.
- Prevalence rates of preterm birth range from 5.4 to 12.0 % – an average of 7.3% of all live births.
- Young ( 35) are at higher risk for preterm birth.
This Year’s Theme
COVID-19 pandemic has posed serious challenges to the political, economic, cultural, and social sectors in countries across the globe.
The pandemic also affected families with a baby born too soon, too small, or too sick since these babies are vulnerable, often need specialized care, and have to remain in the hospital for longer periods.
The safety measures that prevent the spread of COVID-19 kept parents away from seeing their baby for more extended periods.
Keeping the negative effects of familial separation, this year’s world prematurity day theme is Zero Separation, and the slogan Act Now! Keep Parents and Babies Born Too soon together.
This can be done by the following:
- Supporting families,
- Supporting healthcare professionals,
- Strengthening healthcare systems.
World Prematurity Day Events
To send out a message of gratitude to the global network of parent organizations and healthcare professionals in the field of neonatal care to support especially new/young parents and mothers of preterm born babies.
- Participate in a photo challenge on World Prematurity Day, 17 November, on social media accounts to honor Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) heroes and celebrate the progress made in preterm children using tags
and #NICUheroes. - Participate in the live Twitter Chat using the Hashtag #WDP21Chat.
- Visit facebook.com/worldprematurityday to share your World Prematurity Day experiences and plans within your networks.
- Download social media resources, and share social media links among your networks using #WorldPrematurityDay21.
- Go purple! by wearing purple, lighting your home or office purple, lighting a purple candle in the window, cooking purple meals, or coming up with ways to turn the world purple in support of prematurity awareness.
- Hang up a sockline with 9 white baby socks and one smaller purple baby sock as a symbol to raise awareness for prematurity and share on social media with #WorldPrematurityDay2021.
- Donate to support lifesaving research, advocacy, and programs to improve the health of moms and babies.
- Demande #BlanketChange for policies that put moms and babies first.
No matter how much time, money, or workforce you can spare – even with simple things, you can make a difference!
References:
- World Prematurity Day
– (https://www.efcni.org/activities/campaigns/wpd/) - WORLD PREMATURITY DAY- (https://www.marchofdimes.org/mission/world-prematurity-day.aspx)
- What is World Prematurity Day?
– (https://www.bliss.org.uk/support-bliss/world-prematurity-day/what-is-world-prematurity-day)
Source: Medindia
