National Preemie Awareness Month Preemie Size Me!

November is National Preemie Awareness Month and ANNA’S Preemie (www.annaspreemie.com) has put business on the backburner to take up a more worthy cause; spreading the word about prematurity and its devastating effects. Most people don’t know that 1 out of every 8 babies is born prematurely.

That equates to over a half million preemies every year. Not only are these infants simply tiny, but they have the highest probability of suffering lasting hearing and vision loss, chronic lung disease, and various forms of mental disability over those babies born at full term.

Through the months of September and October ANNA’S Preemie has brought Colorado Springs a glimpse of the plight of premature infants by promoting National Preemie Awareness Month and collecting donations of preemie-specific items from members of the community. Items most sought after have been hand crafted booties, hats and shirts.

“I wanted people to really get a feel for how tiny these preemies are,” said Linda Dague, President and founder of ANNA’S Preemie. “We’ve provided patterns that reflect the true size of the tiniest of babies and I think that once people started handcrafting the baby items they were shocked. They’ve never seen clothes so small, and that is the point that ANNA’S Preemie has been trying to drive home. With over half a million premature births every single year, why aren’t we, as a community, more aware?”

Dague plans to take awareness to the next level on November 14th during the first annual McCharity Drive. She has collaborated with two other heavy-hitters in the fight against prematurity: The Colorado Springs Chapter of the Ronald McDonald House, and Memorial Hospital. During an educational presentation at 6:00 PM the Ronald McDonald House, located at 311 N Logan Ave., Colorado Springs, CO., ANNA’S Preemie will be presenting both the Ronald McDonald House and Memorial Hospital NICU with all donations collected, and those preemie items will be distributed amongst the needy families of preemies in Colorado Springs.

ANNA’S Preemie hopes the November 14th McCharity Drive brings the community closer to understanding that premature birth, while common, is a danger of which we should all be aware. And ANNA’S Preemie also hopes that people learn that, while prematurity is still being researched and a cure is being sought, there is still so much a community can do to ease the pain in the meanwhile.

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If you’d like more information about this topic, or wish to schedule an interview with Linda Dague, please call Amy Pringle at 719-244-7000 or email at annas@annaspreemie.com