Did you wear your purple yesterday? Hayley and I did, and we were asked, “Why we were wearing matching purple shirts?” The reason is on November 17, the country celebrated World Prematurity Day. Many of us are under the belief that we will have these perfectly, beautiful infants born on time. According to the March of Dimes, many parents are not educated about the possible risk of delivering early babies. The statistics are staggering – over 1 in 8 babies in the United States are born prematurely. Worldwide, 13 million babies are born before what the doctors call full term.
One of the scariest consequences of babies being born premature is the risk of developing RSV or Respiratory Syncytial Virus. Babies born before 36 weeks of gestation lack the lung maturity necessary to fight off many serious infections, with RSV being one of the most dangerous.
My daughter Hayley was born on-time but we did experience the fear of her having RSV. It was in the fall when she was 6 weeks old, when she developed what I thought was the common cold. Along with the cold came a low grade fever which I thought was normal. However, I remember her waking up with mild wheezing. Being a first time mom, I was frantic! We took her immediately to the pediatrician and she was diagnosed with RSV. Luckily for us, she had a mild case and did not need to be hospitalized. However, I can assure you it was such a scary day for us and I can only imagine having to go through the more severe form of RSV that preemies are highly susceptible too. We were considered the lucky ones to not be hospitalized considering 125,000 children are hospitalized each year with RSV. RSV is leading cause of infant hospitalization each year. RSV unfortunately will take the lives of 500 babies this year.
The RSV season typically runs from fall into spring so we are beginning to enter it. For all those who are new moms, I highly suggest checking out https://www.rsvprotection.com/ as this is an cumulative website geared to tell you by area where RSV is most prevalent, as well as understanding how to prevent and plan against RSV.
Quick facts about RSV:
..RSV is the leading cause of infant hospitalization, responsible for more than 125,000 hospitalizations and up to 500 infant deaths each year
..RSV occurs in epidemics each fall though spring. The CDC has defined “RSV season” as beginning in November and lasting through March for most parts of North America.
..Despite its prevalence, one-third of mothers have never heard of RSV
Unfortunately, there is no treatment for RSV so prevention is key. When you see in hospitals all the signs to wash your hands before touching babies, it is not to annoy visitors. HAND WASHING by anyone that is going to touch the baby is vital to prevent the spread of germs. Also, if your child has an older sibling, this rule applies to them too. This rule also applies to washing down toys or objects that are passed onto the babies that might have been in the older siblings mouth. Also make sure your babies are never around people who are sick. Kindly ask them to avoid seeing the baby, even if they have the common cold. Never let someone who is smoking around the baby as this can increase the risk of contacting RSV. If you believe your child can be at risk for RSV, please make sure you contact the doctor as soon as possible as preventive therapy might be available.
Please be aware of the symptoms:
..Persistent coughing or wheezing
..Rapid, difficult, or gasping breaths
..Blue color on the lips, mouth, or under the fingernails
..High fever
..Extreme fatigue
..Difficulty feeding
I hope that you all supported National Preemie Awareness Day. Lets get together and honor the millions of babies that lose their lives and the many more that struggle to survive in this world. Check out the World Prematurity Day on Facebook and help spread the word. Additional information on the health needs of preterm infants can be found at http://www.preemievoices.com/. My personal thank you!
* Disclosure: I wrote this review while participating in a blog tour by Mom Central Consulting on behalf of MedImmune and received a promotional item to thank me for taking the time to participate.
I am a preemie! My son was early, but my daughter was a week over due. Thanks for the information!
Wow – I was ill informed until now. Thanks for all of the information!
Great information, thanks for the post!
Great information, thanks so much. Out of all the reading on pregnancy and birth that I have done, I have never really given much thought to the preemie situation. And I had no idea that yesterday was Preemie Awareness.
I am thankful that none of my children ever had RSV but I know people whose kids did. Scary stuff. I didn't know that yesterday was Preemie Awareness day either but now that I know, I can mark it on my calendar next year!
GREAT information! My youngest son got RSV when he was a month old and it was soooo scary.
Thanks for sharing, it is so hard to have sick little ones! Thanks for the information, I have heard of this but had no idea anything about it really
Thank you for sharing. My lil guy was only 2 weeks early… so thankfully he wasn't a preemie, but one of my friend has had 2 preemies in a row.. thankfully they didnt get rsv – i didnt realize the risk when they are early
So informative!! Thank you for sharing. I can only imagine how scary it was for Hayley to have it! Ahh! A friend's daughter is currently going through this… a mild case as well.. I am going to pass this along 🙂
When my youngest son was just 2 weeks old, he was hospitalized for 4 days with RSV. It was hands down the scariest days of my life.
Ugh. So scary but need to know information.
Every time I see a preemie – it is like a little miracle. – Want to cry every time
Thanks for this post! This is good to know!
Dominic had RSV too. He was not a preemie either but he was almost 3 weeks early. He got it at 2 months old right after he went to daycare. It caused him to have Asthma and we were constantly giving him breathing treatments. It was only after 3 years did the asthma go away! I will always remember the nights of waking up just about hourly to give him meds.
Great post and great info! My daughter was a premie. Thankfully she was very healthy…
Great article. I wore my purple too! Thanks for the great advice about RSV too. Good to know.
Happy Friday lovie!
Thank you for sharing this! I can't relate too well since my babies were LATE and therefore big and healthy (lol) but this really needs to be more known about. I know a little baby near us died not long ago because the parents had her at home and she was early… so sad. 🙁 That was the midwife's fault, too, though. She should have known. Anyway, thanks for sharing this!
Great post, and thanks for sharing! I wore purple, but wasn't aware of the day, good thing I wore it. 🙂
Handwashing is so important!
Thanks for sharing!!! While my son was only 2 weeks early, a good friend of mine's son was 7 weeks early! Luckily the little guy is a happy healthy 3 year old now 🙂
My twins were premies and it was so scary!! Every time they got sick, they were tested for RSV but, fortunately, they never had it!
Tiffany
Great post! I had a friend who's baby had RSV, and was hospitalized. It was a very scary time for her, and it's good for all parents to be aware of the symptoms.
Thank you for the informative post – I had not heard of RSV prior to this. I can only imagine how terrifying it is to have a sick baby.
Good information. RSV is so scary. My son's friend had it. =(
Thanks everyone for all your comments. I hope I can raise some awareness and thank you for all that shared your stories as well.
Preemies are just the most innocent and vulnerable little people. Thanks for sharing.
Claire has RSV at 10 months old and was in the hospital for a week. Such a scary time in our lives!! Great job supporting!
I also posted about Prematurity Awareness Day, I had no idea that it existed. I also didn't know about wearing purple. That shouldn't be too hard since it is my fav color and my lil' preemie's birthstone. We were fortunate at 5 weeks early she did not develop RSV.
I had never heard about RSV until I saw someone else mention it last week. It's great that this campaign is helping spread awareness about it, because clearly it is needed!
So scary! 🙁 I'm so happy that Olivia was full-term and healthy, and I hope this one will be too! Thanks for sharing the info!
so wonderful of you to share all this information, melissa! i'm so sorry you had such a scary time but so happy to hear hayley was okay!!
i think it's great you're sharing such valuable information!!
xoxox
maria <3