Mission Statement:
The Gift of Life was formed by parents of a premature baby. We offer hope, encouragement and support to parents of premature babies and neonatal intensive care units. Our purpose is to provide support (emotional and practical) to parents and their premature babies. A full term pregnancy lasts 40 weeks. Premature babies, or preemies, are babies born before 37 weeks. What perce
ntage of births are considered Premature? Approximately 8 to 10 percent of all births in the United States-about 400,000 babies-are premature; because they are born before fully maturing, preemies tend to weigh much less than full term babies. What does the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit do? The first few minutes after birth are the most critical minutes as the baby has to be able to function on its own after being taken out of the mother’s womb. The babies when born prematurely will need specialized care from neonatologists (doctors who specialize in premature births), neonatal nurse practitioners, respiratory therapists, physical and speech therapists, neonatal nurses, dieticians and lactation specialists. Together this team of professionals will develop a plan of care that will nurse the baby back to health so that the baby can be discharged to home. What Is the Danger of having a premature birth? Preemies are prone to complications such as respiratory distress syndrome and infections, and often spend weeks or months in a neonatal intensive care unit; because their organs haven’t fully developed. Preemies can also suffer from life-long physical, social, and learning disabilities, as well as brain damage (including cerebral palsy), digestive problems, hearing and vision loss. Premature birth is the number one killer of newborns in America; 13.5 percent of babies born in Florida are pre-term, which is higher than the national average. Premature birth takes an enormous toll on families and costs society billions of dollars each year. Most people are unaware of this common, serious, and costly problem. The Gift of Life is a registered 501c3 corporation set up to work directly with the neonatal intensive care unit to assess immediate needs in the NICU, the parents and babies in the NICU. The Gift of Life raises funds to sustain the projects which provide the items that are needed by the NICU’s we support, the premature babies, their parents and to continue to develop new programs. The Gift of Life is grateful to a number of corporations, organizations, and individuals that help us on fundraising events throughout the year. These events cannot be done without the help of our event industry and our community. If you or your company are interested in producing an event to benefit The Gift of Life, or have a regular company event to which you would consider adding a fundraising component like designating funds from ticket sales, raffles, silent or live auction to benefit the charity, please feel free to contact us and an event planner will contact you right away. The Gift of Life has seasoned event coordinators that can help you with the planning of your event that will benefit the charity. Together we can get the event well coordinated and make it exciting and fun! If you would like to discuss the possibilities, please contact the Gift of Life at 407-905-5454 or at [email protected] and an event coordinator will contact you. "A COPY OF THE OFFICIAL REGISTRATION AND FINANCIAL INFORMATION MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE DIVISION OF CONSUMER SERVICES BY CALLING TOLL-FREE WITHIN THE STATE. REGISTRATION DOES NOT IMPLY ENDORSEMENT, APPROVAL, OR RECOMMENDATION BY THE STATE."
1-800-HELP-FLA (435-7352)
• www.FloridaConsumerHelp.com
