March Of Dimes Helps Upstate Baby

One in six babies born in South Carolina is born prematurely and 125 babies in the state won't even see their first birthday.
It is statistics like those that the March of Dimes is fighting furiously to reduce.
News Channel 7 is proud to be a part of the March for Babies and in advance we talked to a Greenville mom who says because of events like that, her son is here today.
Darrell Thompson is just one year old and rambunctious as ever, but his mother says there was a time she worried he would never see his first birthday.

Rene Thompson says, "Darrell came in at about a pound and 15 ounces."

Rene says there weren't any early signs, but at 26 weeks her son decided to enter the world whether she was ready or not.

She adds, "Once he was delivered I knew he was here but I didn't know what he looked like, I didn't hear him cry he was whisked out of the way."

She says she and her husband felt helpless because as with many premature babies they were worried about problems with his development that can cause life long problems if the baby survives.

"I had him on November 27 we were able to hold him on December 5th. That was the first time I was able to hold him."

But she says thankfully for her son and her family the March of Dimes was there to help. They encouraged her to keep a journal to chronicle everything the family was going through.

Counselors even talked with her daughter to help her cope with the situation, but Rene says Darrell benefited the most because of the research the March of Dimes has been able to do.

She says, "There's a medication used to help with the heart and then the lung development there's also other medications through research that was given to him and the procedure used for surgery."

Thanks to their efforts darrell is happy and healthy.

She says, "He amazes me now and I just sit back. It has been such a long road."

A long road she's happy to be able to follow her son on.
According to the March of Dimes, every two minutes in this country a baby is born weighing less than 5 and a half pounds.
Doctors say in about 50 percent of the cases they still don't know why the baby comes early.
However, the other 50 percent could be avoided by making sure mothers get prenatal care and don't smoke or drink.
For information on the March for babies in the Upstate click here.