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When I was considering which charities to promote through the conference, one of the first that popped into my mind is a charity that has helped me and so many other moms, dads and babies: March of Dimes. As a mom of three premature babies, I used their resources countless times in educating myself, enduring NICU stays (including my first’s stay over Christmas), and for tips to avoid preterm birth with my twins during my second pregnancy. Their purpose is a crucial one: to save babies and prevent premature birth and the death of infants.

Here is some more information from March of Dimes:

The mission of the March of Dimes is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects, premature birth, and infant mortality.  They carry out this mission through research, community services, education and advocacy to save babies’ lives. March of Dimes researchers, volunteers, educators, outreach workers and advocates work together to give all babies a fighting chance against the threats to their health.

Some Highlights:

Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center®

The Pregnancy & Newborn Health Education Center/El Centro de Enseñanza del Embarazo® answers questions in English and Spanish on a wide range of topics, including pregnancy planning; pregnancy; birth defects; prematurity; genetics; babies and other topics.  Questions come through email and social media channels, such as their blogs, News Moms Need and nacersano, and their various Twitter accounts.

Prematurity Campaign
The March of Dimes Prematurity Campaign has two goals: (1) to raise public awareness of the problems of prematurity and (2) to decrease the rate of preterm birth in the U.S. The campaign:

• Funds research to find the causes of premature birth
• Encourages investment of public and private research dollars to identify causes and to identify and test promising interventions
• Educates women about risk-reduction strategies and the signs and symptoms of premature labor
• Provides information and emotional support to families affected by prematurity
• Advocates to expand access to health care coverage to improve maternity care and infant health outcomes
• Helps health care providers to improve risk detection and address risk factors
• Generates concern and action around the problem

NICU Family Support:

In conjunction with its national Prematurity Campaign, the March of Dimes has developed the NICU Family Support program to provide information and comfort to those families in crisis.  Guided by former NICU families, the program is built on a family-centered philosophy and is implemented nationwide through March of Dimes chapters. It addresses the needs of parents, siblings, grandparents and the extended family throughout the hospitalization, during the transition home and in the event of a newborn death.

Share Your Story

Share your Story is an online community for NICU families where they can participate in online discussions, create their own blogs and simply make friends with other families with similar experiences.

Research

March of Dimes research investments continue to be one of the cornerstones of the mission. March of Dimes programs fund several different types of research, all aimed at preventing birth defects and infant mortality. These programs include basic research into life processes, such as genetics and development; clinical research applied to prevention and treatment of specific birth defects and prematurity; the study of environmental hazards; and research in social and behavioral sciences relevant to our mission.

Bloggers Unite to Fight for Preemies

Every year, 20 million babies are born too soon, too small and very sick. Half a million of these babies are born in the U.S. On November 17 we fight!  In 2009 there were over 13,000 blog posts.  Can we double that this year?

How you can Help

• You can donate.
• You can volunteer through your local chapter or participate in a special event.
• You can sign up to blog in November for the Fight for Preemies
• You can blog about the mission anytime.
• You can follow @marchofdimes, @nacersano, @babytips, and @nacersanobaby
• You can fan/like us on Facebook in English and Spanish

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The great thing about hosting a conference is it provides a unique opportunity to help others. This year, Type-A Mom will have official charities that the conference promotes.

The YWCA of Asheville has a pretty amazing history of helping women and children and fighting racism. I encourage you to watch this short video, and I think you’ll be just as moved as I was by their story:

About the YWCA of Asheville

The mission of the YWCA of Asheville is eliminating racism and empowering women. The YWCA works to accomplish this mission by providing programs which help bridge gaps in education, achievement, economic status, health, and access to child care. Find out more at the official YWCA site.

Here are their programs:

• Child Care Center: quality, affordable care for the babies and toddlers of working parents.
• New Choices: structured care management and a support group to help low-income become more economically self-sufficient.
• MotherLove: mentoring program for pregnant and parenting teens.
• School-Age Programs: After-School and Summer Camp, with a focus on homework help and enrichment activities.
• FutureVision: intensive tutoring and social skills development for at-risk teens.
• Drop-in Child Care: free child care for families who are experiencing economic difficulties.
• Diabetes Wellness and Prevention: helping individuals with diabetes and pre-diabetes manage their disease with exercise, group support, and education.
• Health Outreach: classes on the prevention of heart disease, diabetes, and breast cancer in local community centers and churches.
• Latino Learning Center: computer skills classes in Spanish.
• Club W: The YWCA Health and Fitness Center: fitness classes, equipment, a full aquatics program in a solar-heated pool, and health and wellness activities.

How Can You Help?

There are several ways you can help the YWCA. For example:

• You can donate money, even if it’s just a few spare dollars.
• If you are local, you can volunteer.
• You can blog about the program and encourage your readers to donate.
• You can follow the YWCA on Twitter and like the YWCA Facebook page.
• You can share this post on social media sites like Twitter and Facebook. The shortened URL is http://bit.ly/typeamomYWCA .
• You can bring items that the YWCA needs to Type-A Mom Conference. The New Choices program needs gently used toys, costumes, books (especially for older kids chapter books, activity books, etc.), art supplies (like paints, brushes, colored paper), and bins to hold legos and small items. MotherLove needs baby gear and clothing for pregnant and parenting teens. We will have a donation bin set up at the conference.

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