We are
In every corner of America, in every home, there lies a story woven from the fabric of hope, resilience, and relentless dedication. It spans generations, transcending boundaries of race, class, and circumstance. It’s the story of March of Dimes—the story of us all.
Thanks to your support, in 2023 we advanced our research, advocacy, and programmatic work, and celebrated our 85th year of unwavering commitment to the well-being of families. Here’s some of the progress we made together in our mission to fight for the health of all moms and babies.
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March of Dimes
I had never, never pictured that being the way I saw my baby for the first time.
Lea Shaver
More than a year after her daughter was born at just 24 weeks and two days, weighing only 1 pound, 7.5 ounces, Lea continues to grapple with unanswered questions about what led to her early labor.
Research
With 1 in 10 babies born too soon each year and two women dying from pregnancy and childbirth complications every day, we continued to fund research to determine the causes and preventions of preterm birth and help more moms like Lea Shaver have healthy, full-term pregnancies.
Breakthroughs at March of Dimes PRCs enable experts to accurately predict the risk of preterm birth, pregnancy complications, and more
Launched our first ever research-based podcast, MODCAST
$5.3M in new awards granted
Funding innovation Today, we continue our commitment to fight for families with The March of Dimes Innovation Fund, a venture philanthropy initiative investing in early-stage companies tackling critical maternal and infant health challenges. With worsening health statistics for moms and babies, our Fund addresses pregnancy-related complications, insufficient investment in diagnostics and treatments, and disparities in outcomes based on race, geography, and socioeconomic status. Since its launch, we've raised $6.75 million, engaged with 320 companies, and selected three portfolio companies after evaluating numerous organizations last year.
Raydiant Oximetry is developing a device to monitor fetal oxygenation during labor with the aim to better identify fetal distress to help obstetric care providers make better informed decisions.
Investment made January 2023
PyrAmes has developed a wearable to provide continuous blood pressure monitoring with their first product being for neonates and a future product for maternal monitoring.
Investment made April 2023
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Introduction
Education
Advocacy
Programs and partnerships
In its first year, the Fund laid a strong foundation for growth in 2024 and beyond. Our Medical and Science Committee assesses companies based on clinical merit, while our Investment Committee evaluates ROI potential, ensuring strategic selection of investments.
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I was just watching, and the baby’s just steaming because it’s so cold.
Allison Bighorn
In December 2001, Allison went into labor on a remote Montana road. Unable to wait for an ambulance, she gave birth on the side of the highway.
Because of the inherent risk associated with childbirth in the US, we continued reaching families and healthcare professionals with information, advice, and tools for every stage of pregnancy. We reaffirmed our pledge to stand alongside every mom, such as Allison Bighorn, who gave birth on the side of the road.
Trained 24,230 healthcare professionals on implicit bias and other professional education
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Added nine new Supportive Pregnancy Care® sites, making a total of 44 to our group prenatal care program
Determined the US has a D+ preterm birth rate grade in our annual March of Dimes Report Card
By sharing our story, we want people to advocate for themselves.
Ismael Torres-Castrodad
Ismael reflects on his journey and credits his mom, Isamari, whose advocacy during her pregnancy in Puerto Rico ensured his safe delivery despite complications.
The root cause of inadequate maternal and infant healthcare lies within governmental systems. Thanks to our supporters, we actively engaged policymakers nationwide to improve public policies, programs, and funding. These changes aim to safeguard the health of families, such as Ismael Torres-Castrodad's, whose mom in Puerto Rico faced insufficient care, leading to his preterm birth and ongoing health challenges.
Lobbied for policies that resulted in extended Medicaid postpartum coverage to 12 months, in 47 states and Washington, DC
Increased our Advocacy Network by 8% with 47K advocates and 120K total actions taken
Advocated for families through campaigns like March for Change with 74 bills signed into law
We established our 2023-2024 policy priorities last year, which are:
Increase access to quality healthcare March of Dimes advocates for access to quality, high-value, private health insurance and public health coverage, as well as programs that provide integrated healthcare services. Medicaid postpartum extension Access to midwives and doulas Access to quality telehealth services
Support healthy women and babies March of Dimes supports a broad range of policies and programs to promote health, improve health equity, prevent disease, further patient safety, and prevent infant mortality. Advocating for a comprehensive national response to high maternal mortality and morbidity rates, especially among women of color who face health disparities. Access to mental health services Workplace policies for families
Improve research and surveillance March of Dimes advocates for innovative medical research and robust health surveillance programs, which are essential to discovering ways to prevent, diagnose, and treat maternal and child health conditions, track occurrence, and promote health equity. • Maternal Mortality Review • Newborn screening modernization • Vaccination compliance
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I knew that I loved her more than anything from the very beginning.
Ashley Taylor
Ashley’s IVF pregnancy faced complications when her water broke at 18 weeks, leading to an extremely preterm birth and a six-month NICU stay for her daughter, Julia, who overcame serious challenges.
Our cause connects with people from all walks of life, and it’s through our partnerships that we’re able to do the work we do. We collaborated with you and thousands of volunteers, corporate partners, and individuals to take meaningful action to support families like the Taylors, whose newborn fought for six months in the NICU.
Nearly 2K patients received quality perinatal healthcare through over 4K patient visits in Mom & Baby Mobile Health Centers® in three sites
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The NICU Family Support® program served more than 50K families in over 70 sites
Brought together over 45K participants in our flagship fundraising event March for Babies to raise $26M
