I met with Dr. Helmrath and Cutler Andrews on Monday of this week and have some very exciting news to share with the Gastroschisis Community and as SOON as I get through this VERY busy week with the worship band concert tomorrow (http://www.godbepraised.info/) then I will let everyone know the details.
PLEASE keep in touch via my email at meghanhall07@gmail.com NC is at the epicenter of what the Medical Community is calling the "gastroschisis belt" and I believe what will be in the works is a Center for Gastroschisis Care and Support. I'm going to be utilizing a wonderful resource to get non-profit funding and we're going to start here at UNC Chapel Hill Hospitals. There will be a support group and information for all gastroschisis pre-natal care, mommies, daddies and families, educational material and funding for research for the causes of Gastroschisis.
Dr. Helmrath specializes in gastro-intestinal repair and reconstruction. He gets around 5 million a year just to research how best to repair the bowel of our babies. This research is PIVOTAL in the reconstruction of gastroschisis babies. In the case of Avery, if we had more research and far more advancements with stem-cell and gastro-intestinal reconstruction he would have had a chance to survive. Our focus will be on repair and prevention.
In the mean time get the word out, let's start a mailing/emailing list and get united. meghanhall07@gmail.com Encourage ALL women to take a supplemental Folic Acid Vitamin AS SOON as they find out their pregnant. If you're NOT on any pregnancy prevention and you're under the age of 20 please note you are at an increase risk, your statistic makes up for around 90% of the gastroschisis cases. So make sure you're healthy and ALWAYS choose safe sex.
Also, if you're not actively practicing safe sex, you should know you're almost guaranteed to carry a child with any sort of fetal developmental issues if you are smoking, drinking and/or engaging in drug use.
Moral of the story, if you're not ready for babies, then make sure you're taking appropriate measures. If you are pregnant, make sure you discontinue all questionable activities, take pre-natals, folic acid supplements and your health very seriously, especially if you're a young mom. Apply for WIC and eat healthy foods.
You may think like I did, that what worked in my Grandmother's day would work for me. Times are very different, the air quality, the foods and the water that we're consuming is very different that Grandma's. We don't know exactly what causes all these fetal issues, but your health is intrinsically linked to your baby's health.
Spread the word. We're going to get families supported, taken care of and babies delivered healthy and ready to go home. We're going to get education out there, funding to find out what and why and we're going to make a difference.
In Avery's name I promise these things. =)
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