CLARKSVILLE, Tenn.-In response to the significant rise in premature births, Zeta Phi Beta Sorority chapters across the country are planning to hold prematurity awareness events during the month of November 2015.
Zeta members in more than 850 communities across the America will conduct prematurity awareness activities in houses of worship and congregations. Worshipers will learn more about the infant health crisis that nearly half a million families cope with each year. This year marks the 13th consecutive year of Zeta’s participation by leading this nationwide grassroots campaign.
Here in Clarksville, participating congregations include: Dominion Worship Center and Christ the Healer Church. The March of Dimes is leading a World Prematurity Day observance on Tuesday, November 17, 2015. Prematurity affects one out of ten babies born in the U.S. today—a rate that has increased 29 percent since 1981
In addition to the emotional toll, there is a tangible cost to premature birth as well. Prematurity is the leading cause of death for newborns (in the first month of life) and many of the babies who survive leave the hospital with lifelong health conditions or developmental disabilities that will place an additional financial burden on the family.
As part of that effort, November is designated as Prematurity Awareness Month to remind the public that premature birth is a crisis and to bring people together to help give all babies their nine months.
“We want to help the March of Dimes educate the public,” said Dr. Erin Lynch-Alexander, Rho Mu Zeta Chapter President. “So we are bringing this vital information to the places where we worship, one of the cores of community life. This issue affects so many families in Montgomery County, it just seems like the right thing to do.”
For more information, visit the March of Dimes website at marchofdimes.com or its Spanish language website at nacersano.org.For more information on Zeta Phi Beta Sorority, Inc., please visit their website at www.zphib1920.org.