Embrace Blog

Tonight, the Empire State Building will light purple, in recognition of the March of Dimes 8th Annual Prematurity Awareness Day.  This acknowledges the half a million premature births that take place in the US every year.

Take this number and multiply it by 40.

This is the number of premature and low birth weight babies born around the world, primarily in developing countries: 20,000,000.

While in the US, most premature babies have access to hospital care and traditional incubators, poor parents in developing countries have no means to keep their sick infants warm.  As a result, they resort to desperate measures, like placing their babies under light bulbs, or tying hot water bottles around their bodies.

Sujatha is a young mother I recently met in Krishnamylur Village, in India.  She gave birth to a baby two months prematurely, and had no money to go to a hospital.  So her husband built a glass box for the baby, over which they hung a 100 watt light bulb.  She described watching her baby turn blue, because he was so cold.  Room temperature feels like freezing cold water to these fragile babies.

Her baby died a day later.

The death of a child is a tragedy in countries like the US.  In countries like India, this tragedy is an everyday reality.   In honor of Prematurity Awareness Day, it’s important to not only acknowledge the premature babies born in the US, but those born all around the world.

So for those in New York, as you bundle up and gaze at the purple lights on the Empire State Building, take a moment and think of the 20 million babies around the world, many of whom die or become severely ill because they can’t stay warm.

Our hope is that all of these babies will soon be cared for – through the simple warmth of an Embrace.