I recently toured the UAMS Neonatal Intensive Care Unit. What I encountered left me speechless and even more grateful for my own children who were born healthy and were able to go home after typical, post-delivery hospital stays. I saw precious babies so tiny their bodies could fit in a person’s hand. Their skin was so fragile it could be burned by the human touch. Their diapers were smaller than that of a child’s toy.

For 75 years, the March of Dimes has worked for these babies, their families and more than 4 million other infants who were born in the past year alone, through research, vaccines, education and breakthroughs. This month, Little Rock Family surveys the organization’s accomplishments through the decades and introduces you to the Freemans, the 2013 Ambassador Family for March of Dimes of Arkansas.

• Celebrating 75 Years of the March of Dimes: A Timeline of Good Deeds
• Today we walk for Ashton and “Beanie” as told by mother, Kristi Freeman

Did You Know?

• One in seven babies is born pre-maturely in Arkansas.
• The socio-economic impact of preterm birth in Arkansas is an estimated $260,000,000 each year.
• By 2014, March of Dimes wants to reduce the preterm birth rate in Arkansas from 13.2% to 12%.