March of Dimes: Supporting Mothers and Babies, Through Polio to Covid-19

March of Dimes supports mothers and infants across America by advocating for policies to improve maternal health care, delivering supportive pregnancy care, educating the public, and funding research. Through this broad range of initiatives, the organization aims to empower pregnant women and provide every baby with a healthy start in life.

Here’s a closer look at the organization and its impact throughout its 82-year history.

March of Dimes was founded in 1938 to tackle polio, a dreaded illness that preyed on children.

Initially known as the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, the organization was created to combat polio, a viral disease that can leave people with permanent physical disabilities. The US was battered by waves of polio outbreaks in the first half of the 20th century, and children were affected the most.

Between 1938 and 1955, the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis spent $233 million on care for polio patients, providing medical aid to 80% of all US polio patients. In 1955, Jonas Salk’s polio vaccine was approved for use, and the infection rate plummeted over the next decade.

March of Dimes tackled other childhood diseases after polio.

Following widespread implementation of the polio vaccine and subsequent decline of the disease, the organization switched its focus to other pediatric health issues, including birth defects, viruses, arthritis, and infant mortality.

The National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis became the March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation in 1976. In the same year, the organization published a report titled Toward Improving the Outcome of Pregnancy that re-centered its efforts on improving maternal and neonatal care.

The March of Dimes funded the rubella vaccine.

Also known as German measles, the rubella virus can trigger congenital rubella syndrome, a condition known to cause birth defects such as blindness, deafness, and cognitive impairment as well as miscarriages.

In 1969, Virginia Apgar, creator of the Apgar Score to assess the health of newborns, testified in the US Senate on behalf of March of Dimes. She advocated for the implementation of a nationwide, federally funded rubella immunization program.

March of Dimes initially funded the vaccine, which received FDA approval in the early 1970s. The organization is credited with the remarkable success of the rubella immunization program. It worked in conjunction with the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the CDC, and the American Academy of Pediatrics, as well as various local and state health departments, to deliver the vaccine to millions of American women.

The organization has funded research into fetal alcohol syndrome.

Characterized as a group of birth defects ranging from growth problems to behavioral problems and cognitive impairment, fetal alcohol syndrome is caused by ingestion of alcohol during pregnancy. (There is no known safe amount of alcohol for a pregnant woman to drink.) The condition affects between 1% to 5% of people in the US.

The March of Dimes supported the National Council on Alcoholism’s call for a media campaign highlighting the dangers of alcohol consumption by pregnant women. In 1989, the US Senate passed laws requiring manufacturers to include labels on alcoholic beverages that warned pregnant women of the risk of birth defects on all alcoholic beverage. These labels are still required today.

March of Dimes launched the Prematurity Campaign on January 30, 2003.

The campaign has made considerable strides in achieving its two main objectives: increasing public awareness of the complications of prematurity, and reducing the rate of preterm births throughout the US.

The term “preterm birth” is used to describe birth before 37 weeks of pregnancy. It can happen during any pregnancy, but some risks factors can be controlled. Currently, around 380,000 infants are born prematurely in the United States each year, or about 1 in 10 babies.

Premature birth can cause breathing problems, feeding difficulties, slow weight gain, vision and hearing problems, and developmental disabilities. Sadly, preterm births account for about 17% of infant deaths. For years, premature births declined steadily, before trending upwards again in the mid-2010s. 2018 was the fourth consecutive year the rate increased—a fact that underscores the ongoing importance and relevance of efforts like the Prematurity Campaign.

March of Dimes is now responding to the covid-19 crisis.

There is still much we don’t know about the coronavirus and covid-19, including its specific effects on pregnant women, infants, and fetuses.

Pregnant women, especially Black and Latina women, are more likely to become seriously ill if they contract covid-19. It’s still unclear if pregnant women can pass the virus to their baby in utero—early studies showed that some pregnant women who tested positive for covid-19 gave birth to babies who did not test positive. Other research indicates that transmission from pregnant woman to fetus is at least possible.

The CDC reports that pregnant women with covid-19 may have a higher risk of giving birth prematurely, though this is not certain yet. However, we do know that high fevers during early pregnancy—whatever the cause—can increase the risk of preterm birth.

What’s also certain is that infants can be infected with covid-19 from their parents, family, or caregivers. Though children seem to have less severe symptoms of covid-19 when compared to adults, infants have a higher risk of severe illness in their first year.

March of Dimes is responding to the pandemic by providing up-to-date information on covid-19 as it affects pregnant women, mothers, and babies. The organization has also created the Mom and Baby Covid-19 Intervention and Support Fund to help families weather the crisis. The fund supports research on covid-19 treatments and interventions that will be safe for pregnant and breastfeeding women, advocacy campaigns that urge officials to include pregnant and breastfeeding women in covid-19 clinical trials, and essential resources for moms, babies, and the healthcare providers that treat them.