Page 4 - MidWeek Kauai - March 23, 2022

4 KAUA‘I MIDWEEK MARCH 23, 2022
Dr. Angela Pratt with mother Kristen Kawata and son Luke, who had just been cleared to leave the neonatal intensive care unit at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children.
March of Dimes (formerly known as National Founda- tion for Infantile Paralysis), enabled the creation of an effective vaccine in 1955. By 1979, the same year March of Dimes donned its new moni- ker, the U.S. was polio-free. This enabled March of Dimes to focus on its current mission of improving birth outcomes.
With a new team in place locally — led by executive director for the Hawaiʻi mar- ket Candice Fajardo — the nonprofit is ready to hone in on rebuilding and rebranding.
“We want to create an im- pact, being able to look at all lenses of pregnancy for healthy moms and babies,” Fajardo explains. “Education is really important to us, and we want to be more transfor- mational than transactional.”
Already, the local team has jumped into action, collecting supplies for military families affected by the contaminated water at the Red Hill under- ed ground storage facility at hel Pearl Harbor. It’s also part- pr nered with Hui Mālama Ola ing Nā ʻŌiwi on the Big Island
March of Dimes celebrates eight decades of supporting moms and their babies with a special brunch this month.
to provide fresh produce and m prenatal kits for pregnant fam- of ilies. Fajardo also has plans co to use a mobile van to bring Le health care to pregnant moth- ch ers in communities around the of state, and her team is working
After Richard and Shannon Edie’s fra- ternal twins, Dylan and Savannah, were born two months early by emergency C-section, there was a lot of nervous energy in the air. The couple lost their twin girls a year prior, so the journey was “a rough road to our babies,” according to Shannon.
expert hands in the department helped put the twins on a path to success. The time spent was also beneficial for Richard and Shannon, who appreciated the hands-on assistance from staff (even when it came to teaching basic parenting skills like how to do a swaddle) as well as the helpful guidance from March of Dimes, which provides re- sources for parents with chil- dren in the NICU. Despite the harrowing circumstances, the Edies couldn’t have asked for a better experience.
and March of Dimes provid- ed,” she says.
on getting a full-time NICU far family support program up an and running — not just at tiv Kapiʻolani, but at hospitals or around the state, too. tic
“I feel like I blocked out a lot of that time; it was really stressful for us, certainly the pregnancy,” she says.
Now almost 4, Dylan and Savannah are happy, healthy and enjoying life with their parents, family and friends.
Celebrating the holidays with jolly old St. Nicholas are the Edies — (from left) Shannon, Savannah, Richard and Dylan. PHOTOS COURTESY SHANNON EDIE
Dylan and Savannah spent six weeks at Kapiʻolani Med- ical Center for Women & Chil- dren’s neonatal intensive care unit, and during their stay, the
“When I think about our time in the NICU, I have only positive memories, and part of that was the support the staff
“They have done amazing,” shares Shannon. “You would never know they were prema- ture, and only 2 and 3 pounds when they were born.”
ally, 15 million babies are born prematurely, and March of Dimes is there to fund re- search, education, advocacy and community programs to help expecting moms have full-term, healthy pregnancies.
And if anyone can put an end to premature births, it’s March of Dimes, which had to shift its mission away from curing polio after helping to eradicate the disease. Research, funded in part by grants from the then-
The organization continues to be proactive about prenatal
“Dr. (Angela) Pratt and the staff at Kapiʻolani and March of Dimes, we believe were an integral part of our story, which is still being written,” Shannon adds.
“Once a baby is born pre- of mature, the families are in the NICU from a week to months, and providing a family support coordinator goes a long way,” notes Fajardo. “When we hear stories from families like the Edies, who say that if it wasn’t for March of Dimes, it would have been such a dark time in their lives.”
The story of the Edies is one of many happening in Hawaiʻi and around the world. Glob-
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