Franklin Junior’s Foundation
For Families of Premature Children
…because some newborn babies need extra special care!
Our Mission and Our Work
Approximately one in six babies born to minority and immigrant families is born premature or sick. Thousands of these babies need intensive care and the figure is rising - more and more babies are born prematurely or have a low birth weight. Of even more concern is the "very preterm" rate for blacks. Nearly 4% of black babies are born at less than 32 weeks of pregnancy -- almost two and a half times the rate for white babies. These babies and their families need extra special care
Franklin Junior Foundation for premature children is an outgrowth of a personal experience of the challenges of Franklin Oleh Junior who was born seventeen weeks – 17 – premature. Franklin Jr. has survived … he was born weighing only 1lb. 5ozs, was pronounced legally dead four times and has survived two surgeries. Today Franklin Jr. is an active 4 year old. Please read his full story enclosed.
The purposes of the Franklin Junior’s Foundation for Premature Children are:
- to assist parents, healthcare professionals and the public in providing the best possible care for premature infants and children;
- raise public and political awareness of the problems facing prematurely-born infants;
- enlighten parents and caregivers of the problems that premature infants face and ways in which the problems can be foreseen and handled;
- develop support groups and information services for parents of preemies;
- advocate for the rights of premature infants and children to receive the best possible care;
- make essentials (such as clothing, diapers, pacifiers and nipples) that are specially designed for premature infants readily accessible;
- provide assistance with meals, lodging and expenses for parents of preemies who travel long distances to hospitals to be with their children during surgeries and treatments and to promote active communication among doctors, nurses and parents to encourage parental involvement in the care and development of their premature infants while in intensive care and in the course of their growth.
The mission of Franklin Junior Foundation is to ensure that more babies of minority and immigrant families survive, have the best quality of life and their parents and families receive the support they need.
It is only with the incredible bolster of our supporters, donors and strategic partners, that we will be able to assist parents, health care professionals and the public in preventing premature births and in providing the best possible care for babies, infants and children in minority and immigrant communities.
Programs
Support for parents and families of premature babies: Immigrant families are especially at risk – unfamiliar with the system of care; the impact of cultural barriers; language barriers; etc.
- Several hospitals refer parents of newborn – Lincoln Hospital – Bronx Lebanon – Columbia Presbyterian and Harlem Hospitals.
- The center also maintains a database of the families that are referred to us and follow up is ongoing - opportunity to make some of these parents part of our parents support panel.
- The center makes periodic home visits and assist families to make adjustments in the home – hygiene; environmentally friendly products etc. # of home visits - 20
- The center links families with food pantries – for those in need. FJF sources additional support in the form of diapers and clothing, baby food, toys.
- FJF provides financial counseling to families to ensure that their financial support system can sustain them through the changes that occur because of … it is not uncommon in our counseling to realize that many families need more than the support of food toys and diapers
- CPR training and support- need funding to expand this area –
- General translation and other assistance to non-english speaking families. Interaction with families residing in the US from several African countries – languages #4 (French, IBO, Hauser and Yoruba), and Spanish speaking families
Campaigning for improvements in neonatal care
- FJF supports the body of work that promotes improvement in neonatal care – funding to support the distribution of critical information
- FJF plans to host a yearly conference to highlight the need for minority and immigrant families and communities to increase its participation in ensuring enhanced neonatal care. Funding to support a conference
Prevention Program – to be implemented
- Assisting in health care access for immigrant and minority families. (The primary reason that immigrants are using the health care system less than the native-born is lack of health insurance. According to 2002 data from the Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP), foreign-born adults are nearly three times as likely as native-born adults to be uninsured (32 percent vs. 13.4 percent, respectively).
- FJF host workshops and conferences to highlight the problem of low birth weight and premature pregnancies
Manage a pool of parent-to-parent volunteers
- FJF continues to build its pool of parent-to-parent volunteers that provide peer support and assist with navigating families through the myriad support systems that are available. Ptp volunteers provide critical language and cultural support. Many of the PTP volunteers are medical personnel
Prayer Network Support
Many minority and immigrant families particularly request prayer support during the critical and challenging time. FJF is able to refer families to religious leaders that can support these families through their challenges.
Caring for Widows of child-bearing age in Nigeria and developing countries: (expand program to be broader that caring for widows)
"The true measure of a nation’s standing is how well it attends to its children – their health and safety, their material security, their education and socialization, and their sense of being loved, valued, and included in the families and societies into which they are born."
UNICEF
FJF works with a team of medical personnel on the ground in Nigeria and plans to coordinate a team of medical personnel from the US to assist with the distribution of care for widows of childbearing age. Many widows fall into poverty and become vulnerable to abuse that impact negatively on their health. Many are coerced into bearing children or because of compromised situations with unprotected sex give birth. A number of these babies can of low birth weight or premature. FJF desires to provide some access to health care that in addition to taking care of the woman ensures that pregnancies go to full term or the woman understands that she has choices whether or not to give birth. FJF will launch this program at the end of its fiscal year – December 2007.
Achievements
FJF began operations two years ago and is projected to be an international charity that supports minority and immigrant families in North America, and families in the developing world in all aspects of neonatal care, whether it be by campaigning for improved services, supporting parents of premature or sick newborn babies or supporting innovation in care or practice. Additionally, to assist in the prevention and other medical care, since, in the developing world, all aspects of medical attention contribute significantly to the health and well being of the population and thus assist in the prevention of diseases and maladies that affect the newborn.
Achievements over our two-year history:
- Franklin Foundation collaborated with Unite for Sight and Taiwanese visit and supply of lenses where 700 individuals benefited
- FJF sent medical supplies to a Ghana refugee camp that assisted …
- FJF has collaborated with the four hospitals over the tow years of its existence offering counseling and other support to over one hundred and twenty families – 120. One of these hospitals is the birth home of Franklin Jr.
- Since 2005, FJF has linked with Deeper Life Charities and World Vision to assist families in need. FJF sourced support in the form of diapers and clothing, baby food, toys and food for close to 500 families
- FJF founder and volunteers attended several conferences around the country to learn of the ways to combat the problem of premature births.
Members of The Board of FJF
Board Chair
Alfred Gill Jr.
President
Franklin Oleh
Board members
Myra Alema
Nursing Advisory Panel
Get nurses from most of the participating hospitals – especially those knowledgeable of the minority community
Medical Advisory Panel
Dr. Knigsly Nwoegi MD
Dr. Felix Nwokolo MD
Dr. Ralph Essien MD
Dr. Ijeoma MD
Parent Support Panel
Maria
FJF issues response to UNICEF report
"FJF welcomes the report Child poverty in perspective: An overview of child well-being in rich countries published by UNICEF. We are particularly concerned about the findings around the three key areas of infant mortality, low birth weight and teenage pregnancy. The shockingly poor performance of the US in these areas in comparison to other countries confirms what we already know about the welfare of babies in this country, particularly babies born in minority and immigrant families, and we urge the Government and elected officials to respond to these findings with support for programs to assist with change. We know that infant mortality rates vary significantly among different areas and sectors of the US and action is urgently needed to improve our performance in all areas of neonatal health and care to give US babies the start to life that they deserve."
FJF spokespeople are available for interview. Please contact FO or AG at 718-513-4446
Report is available on our website at …
FACTS & FIGURES
Much of the facts and figures that follow support the need for for programs like FJF that support minority and immigrant families in the US and seek to support neonatal and other health care issues and practices in the developing world.
Premature births. The rate of premature births (less than 37 completed weeks of gestation) rose to 11.6% in 1998, and has risen 9% since 1990 and 23 percent since 1981. The low birth-weight rate (less than 5.5 pounds) also continued to rise, increasing to 7.6% for 1998. The low birth-weight rate has risen quite steadily since the mid-1980's. The upswing in the overall levels of preterm and low birth-weight births is influenced in part by the increase in multiple births; multiples tend to be born earlier and smaller than singletons.
Premature births. The proportion of women beginning prenatal care in the first trimester rose again for the 9th consecutive year, to 82.8% in 1998. Timely care has risen 10% during the 1990's.
Rate of Premature Birth Hits New High in U.S.
Sept. 9, 2005 - The U.S. premature-birth rate has hit a record high, the latest CDC figures show.
The new figures cover the year 2003. They show that premature babies now make up 12.3% of all births -- a 30% increase since detailed record keeping began in 1981.
Most of the increase comes from white babies. Their preterm rate hit 11.5%. But that record high is dwarfed by the preterm rate for black babies: 17.6%, a rate that's barely changed since 1981.
The new data are "troubling," says Joyce A. Martin, MPH, lead statistician for the CDC's division of vital statistics. Martin is the lead author of the CDC's newly released Births: Final Data for 2003."It is of concern nationally that this important indicator of child health continues to deteriorate," Martin tells WebMD.
Going in the Wrong Direction
March of Dimes president Jennifer L. Howse, PhD, says premature birth often has devastating consequences for babies and their families.
"It will break your heart: 25% of those babies have serious lifelong health consequences," Howse tells WebMD. "Learning disabilities, mental retardation, cerebral palsy, blindness or vision impairment -- these are infants who have been damaged and will have a lifetime of disability."
Howse notes that the U.S. Public Health Service has set a goal of reducing the premature birth rate to 7.6% by 2010. But the figures show we're steadily going in the wrong direction.
What's going on? Nobody is sure.
"We cannot say from our data what is driving the increase," Martin says. "Some studies suggest that changes in the management of labor and delivery may be driving some of the change. That is the rate of [medically] induced preterm births and the rate of cesarean delivery for preterm births."
Howse says C-sections and induced labor aren't the whole story. Another factor is the increase in multiple births.
Are Fertility Drugs to Blame?
There's certainly been an increase in the number of women using fertility drugs. These drugs increase the number of multiple births -- and twins, triplets, and other multiple babies are much more likely to be premature than singleton babies. But that's far from the whole answer.
"The preterm birth rate has been increasing fairly steadily for the last couple of decades for singleton births," Martin says. "Although multiple births have driven the preterm rate up somewhat, it is not responsible for the overall rise."
Howse notes that obese women are much more likely to have a premature baby than normal-weight women. As America's obesity epidemic continues, premature birth is yet another way the health effects are visited on a new generation.
Another cause of premature birth, Howse says, is the increasing lack of health insurance by women of childbearing age.
"One in five women of childbearing age lacks health insurance," she says. "That is a factor, and it is on the rise."
The X Factor
But the biggest cause of premature birth is something Howse calls factor X.
"Factor X is a mother who does everything right in her pregnancy. She has no known risks during her pregnancy. And yet she delivers preterm," Howse says. "Factor X accounts for one half of premature births. We do not know the reasons."
What's needed, Howse says, is vastly more research. Doctors don't know the full molecular biology of normal pregnancy. That black box may very well hold the key to reducing premature births and the death and disability premature birth leaves in its wake.
Teen Births Down, More Unmarried Moms
Not all the news from the CDC report is bad. The teen birth rate continues to drop. It fell by 3% to 41.6 births per 1,000 women aged 15-19. That's one-third of the peak rate seen in 1991.
The drop in teen births has been particularly dramatic among black teens. Their overall birth rate dropped by nearly half since 1991.
Other statistics from the new treasure trove of birth data:
- There was a steep increase in childbearing among unmarried women. After eight years of little change, the birth rate for unmarried women aged 15-44 went up 3% to 44.9 births per 1,000. More than 1.4 unmarried U.S. women gave birth in 2003 -- the most in 60 years.
- Moms are getting older. The birth rate for women aged 20-24 went down, while the birth rate for women aged 30-34 and 35-40 went up. The birth rate for women 40-44 soared by 5% to 8.7%. That's the highest it's been since 1969.
- Low birth weight -- babies weighing 5.5 pounds or less -- went up to the highest level since 1970.
- Cigarette smoking by pregnant women went down. But more than one in 10 pregnant women still smoke -- and about 25% of them smoke a half-pack or more per day.
Premature births account for more than a third of infant deaths in the U.S, nearly twice previous estimates, researchers say.
In 2002, official U.S. health statistics listed low birth weight or short gestation — less than 37 weeks — as the cause of 17 per cent of infant deaths. But that number could be low, based on a re-analysis of the data.
Some causes of newborn death are related to premature birth but haven't been counted as deaths from premature birth and should be, the researchers said. The preterm-related conditions include:
- Respiratory distress syndrome caused by underdeveloped lungs.
- Brain hemorrhage.
- Maternal complications such as premature rupture of membranes.
"The only way that an infant gets assigned [preterm birth] is if there's nothing else on the death certificate," said Dr. Bill Callaghan, lead author of the study in Monday's issue of the journal Pediatrics.
"That may result in an underestimation of what the real problem is," said Callaghan, a senior scientist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control's maternal and infant health branch.
Including the deaths from related causes may strengthen calls for pregnant women to avoid smoking and drug use. Groups that lobby for more research into unknown causes of preterm births, such as the March of Dimes, could also use the new statistics to boost their case for increased funding.
Reducing infant mortality
"This study found that efforts to reduce infant mortality rates must focus on preterm birth," and find ways to safely delay such births," the researchers wrote.
To reclassify the statistics, Callaghan and his colleagues analyzed about 28,000 infants deaths in 2002.
About 4,600 or 17 per cent were attributed to preterm birth alone, but adding in the preterm-related conditions boosted the number to 9,600 births, or 34 per cent.
The researchers listed several causes for the rising preterm birth rate in the U.S., including an increasing number of births to teenaged girls and older women, and more frequent use of in vitro fertilization which tends to produce more multiple births and earlier births.
Infant mortality rates in the U.S. declined during most of the last century but have stabilized recently as preterm births have risen.
NannyPlus Services
Opportunity for FJF to get funding to place parent-to-parent nannies that provide support to families with premature babies
The major advantage of this approach is that FJF can place nannies that are culturally competent to the minority and immigrant populations that we serve. Parent-to-parent (PTP) nannies, more often than not, have been close to the situation of premature babies or themselves mothers of premature babies. They bring critical skills that support the ease of understanding and learning for the parents of the newly premature. More than additional care support for the newborn, parents can find opportunities to connect with themselves and their spouses outside of the immediate environment, rejuvenate, and renew mental balance.
