by David Chapman
Staff Writer
Instead of being home for the holidays, many families with prematurely born babies will spend time in-and-out of neonatal intensive care units. Especially around the holidays the experience can be overwhelming, which is why several mothers who have experienced the ordeal recently reached out to more than 100 families in those predicaments to show they care.
The Northeast Florida March of Dimes Family Team Advisory Council — the volunteer group of mostly mothers — recently collected, assembled and delivered bags full of items to parents of premature babies at Wolfson Children’s Hospital, a show of support that several of the volunteers hoped to see become an annual event.
The items included everything from bottles of water, lotions and Chapstick to journals, pens and even cameras. All of the items were things the volunteers said they wished they had available during their experience.
“It’s unexpected and you don’t really prepare for the situation,” said Lauren Davidson, one of the volunteers who brought her 6-year-old son Jacob with her, a premature baby himself. “Things like the camera ... I missed out on a lot of pictures when I had him.”
The volunteers credited fellow volunteer Jillian Aschenbrennar, a mother of a premature baby and nurse practitioner, with coming up with the idea that soon “spread like wildfire,” as Davidson put it.
The March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization for pregnancy and baby health and while the organization devotes much of its funds toward research, said Northeast Florida chapter office manager Judy Larson, the recent event was a tangible way to show support for local people going through the hardship.
Mastarsha Thompson is one of the mothers of a family going through a premature childbirth, as her son Timothy was born Dec. 2 — just under three months premature from his scheduled Feb. 24 birth date. Timothy weighed just under three pounds and was 14 inches, and while the situation was tough, she was appreciative of the support from the volunteers who came to see her.
Jill Vernon sees the effects of premature birth, as she works in Wolfson’s Newborn Intensive Care Unit. Her son Samuel was born prematurely, though, and while it’s been tough, she does know the support for her and others is there.
“The March of Dimes has always been supportive and they do great work,” said Vernon. “This is just something else to show they care and it’s nice to know their thoughts and prayers are with us.”
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