Pregnancy & Infant Loss Awareness Day

Today is Pregnancy and Infant Loss Awareness Day ~ we wish to honor all babies and their families and promote Remembering Our Babies.

Tonight light a candle at 7 PM - if you extinguish it at 8 PM there will be a continuous wave of light through the time zones of the world.

GoodSearch for Research

Breath of Hope, Inc. launched its Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness® Campaign in July 2007. Members of Breath of Hope’s support forum, their families and the general public made March 31, 2008 the first Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness Day™ in thirty-one states. This successful event gave those affected by CDH an arena to share their stories with their communities and speak for those who could not.

The Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia birth defect has been affecting infants since the 18th century. Until the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness® campaign, no other efforts had been made to educate the general public about the severity of this birth defect. The first time many families became aware of the defect was at an ultrasound appointment.

Awareness brings funding for research and better treatment for the condition and/or birth defect. Take a look at the Breast Cancer Awareness Campaign and see how it has evolved. Because of the efforts of those affected, everyone sees a pink ribbon and thinks about breast cancer. Through their pink ribbon campaign, many companies now donate a portion of their profits to Breast Cancer Research.

The Turquoise Ribbon represents the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Awareness® Campaign for Breath of Hope. It is not teal, it isn't pink or blue – it is Turquoise. The symbolism behind that color and stone clearly support these children, families and the health professionals out there who care for them. The Turquoise stone has been around for centuries. Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia has also been around for centuries and has been found in Egyptian Mummies.

Just ten years ago the frequency in pregnancies of CDH was 1-3500 to 5000 and it was considered rare. Today, the frequency is 1-2000 to 2500 – Breath of Hope stands by the 2000 because many of those figures do not include pregnancies that resulted in stillborn, miscarriage or were heartbreakingly interrupted. We consider those babies as part of our statistics, giving a truer reflection of the entire picture.

Breath of Hope encourages research for this devastating birth defect. To assist in furthering research, Breath of Hope will fundraise and donate funds to the medical researchers who need money to continue their efforts. Any donation earmarked for research, will be forwarded to these researchers. The Board of Directors of Breath of Hope, Inc. recently approved the donation of funds to Johns Hopkins where a surgeon is painstakingly researching lung growth. The lungs are the key for these unborn, just born and growing children.

GoodSearch for CDH Research:

• Breath of Hope has established an Endowment Fund for Medical Research of Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.
  


• Breath of Hope pledges all Funds generated through GoodSearch for Breath of Hope will go to this Fund and then will be redirected to Medical Research.
  


• Any Funds Donated to Breath of Hope earmarked for Research will also be added to this Fund.

One day we hope our awareness efforts will further government funding for research, increase in the survival rate and improve the lives of congenital diaphragmatic hernia families.

We encourage other organizations that support Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia families and research to use the turquoise ribbon as well.

We ask you to join our mission.

To GoodSearch for Breath of Hope - see the bottom of the blog for a GoodSearch GoodShop link to take you directly to the GoodSearch Page. Or go to the page and choose Breath of Hope - Charlottesville, VA - start searching or shopping. You can also check on our progress throughout and see how much will go to funding Medical Research efforts for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia!

If you do Internet Shopping - GoodSearch has many retailers which will donate a percentage of your purchase (at no cost to you) to Breath of Hope and it will in turn fund Medical Research for Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia.

CDH Study Group

This http://cdhsg. net/ web site is designed as a resource for the Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Study Group. The CDH Study Group has over 50 centers that submitting data to this database that is run by Kevin P. Lally, MD. The Wisconsin coordinator monitors the NICU census daily.

Johns Hopkins - Link & Medical Research Funded

I had to share this link that Johns Hopkins has for congenital diaphragmatic hernia:

http://www.hopkinschildrens.org/tpl_rlinks_nav1up.aspx?id=3518

Breath of Hope, Incorporated also has donated funds to Johns Hopkins for Medical Research related to CDH. We will continue to donate funds for medical research out there so that one day through awareness and research answers and treatments will be found.

Courage - the Foundation of Integrity

With courage you will dare to take risks, have the strength to be compassionate, and the wisdom to be humble. Courage is the foundation of integrity. --Keshavan Nair

Timely Quote....

Empty pockets never held anyone back. Only empty heads and empty hearts can do that.

--Norman Vincent Peale

Handprint Kits from the United Way Day of Caring

With eight volunteers we assembled 500 of the pictured kits with Paris of Plaster and the Instructions inside. These will be a treasured memento for families whose children are admitted to the University of Virginia Children's Medical Center NICU and for those Breath of Hope Expectant Parents too.

The University of Virginia Health Service Supply Chain Management Staff is amazing! Thank you all!

Breath of Hope

Life is fragile, but hope is strong.

All good things begin with hope.

Breath of Hope and the United Way Day of Caring

This is the 17th Annual United Way Laurence E. Richardson Day of Caring in Charlottesville, Virginia. It is an opportunity for local charities to receive volunteers to help with many things that may not get done due to limited manpower. Local businesses have their employees volunteer to help with anything from office work to landscaping.

Breath of Hope has signed up to receive volunteers on Wednesday, September 17, 2008 who will be assembling Infant Hand Print Kits which will go to the University of Virginia Children's Medical Center NICU. Families who have a baby at UVA's NICU will receive a hand print kit to keep as a treasured memory of their little one's first days on earth. UVA has approximately 450 infants admitted to their NICU each year we will be assembling 500. Of those kits, 50 will be used for Breath of Hope's Expectant Parent Care Package which has always included a hand print kit for these special babies.

Added to this - 17 others will learn of the congenital diaphragmatic hernia birth defect and may spread the word to many others too.

Aware - Awareness - Cognizant

Let us not look back in anger, nor forward in fear, but around in awareness. --James Thurber


a·ware
play_w2("A0551800") (-wâr) adj.
1. Having knowledge or cognizance: aware of the difference between the two versions; became aware of faint sound.
2. Archaic Vigilant; watchful.

[Middle English, variant of iwar, from Old English gewær; see wer-3 in Indo-European roots.]

a·wareness n.
Synonyms: aware, cognizant, conscious, sensible, awake, alert, watchful, vigilantThese adjectives mean mindful or heedful: Aware implies knowledge gained through one's own perceptions or by means of information:
Are you aware of your opponent's hostility?
I am aware that the legislation passed.

Cognizant is a formal equivalent of aware: "Our research indicates that the nation's youth are cognizant of the law" Jerry D. Jennings.Conscious emphasizes the recognition of something sensed or felt: "an importance . . . of which even Americans are barely conscious" William Stanley Jevons.

Sensible implies knowledge gained through intuition or intellectual perception: "I am sensible that the mention of such a circumstance may appear trifling" Henry Hallam.

To be awake is to have full consciousness of something: "as much awake to the novelty of attention in that quarter as Elizabeth herself" Jane Austen.Alert stresses quickness to recognize and respond: I remained alert to career opportunities.Watchful and vigilant imply looking out for what is dangerous or potentially so: The watchful parents protected their toddler. The ranger kept a vigilant eye out for forest fires.

The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright ©2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2003. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.