As health officials work to reduce the number of premature births in the United States, one organization has found a unique way to highlight the importance of the initiative. March of Dimes found a real video on YouTube of a young mother chronicling her pregnancy to show the health benefits of carrying a child to full term, The New York Times reports.
March of Dimes found the video, which was made by a young couple in London, and put their own spin on it. While showing the still photos of the woman's pregnancy, the organization also flashed words emphasizing the health complications that come along with giving birth too early. Charity officials say they likely could not have found a better way to get the message across.
"We couldn't ever replicate it, it has a crudeness about it that makes it real," Paul Behnen, executive creative director of an ad agency working with March of Dimes, told the Times. "She's kind of engaging, she has a cute smile, and when she's very large the camera moves in closer, with her smiling and showing off her belly. The camera goes back to where it was originally when she brings the baby out."
The new video is part of a nationwide effort spearheaded by the organization along with United States Department of Health and Human Services to raise awareness about premature births. The initiative comes after some startling statistics about how many such births there are in the United States each year.
The study, conducted by Save the Children and recently published in the journal The Lancet found there were around 517,000 premature births (37 weeks or earlier) in the United States in 2010. That placed the U.S. in the top 10, much higher than in other developed countries.
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