DAVIE, Fla. — It was a packed campus at Nova Southeastern University Saturday morning as families, medical staff and supporters came together to walk at Broward’s annual March for Babies event in Davie.
The walk is put together by March of Dimes and raises awareness and critical funds to tackle our country’s maternal and infant health crisis.
This year’s event highlights that every step counts in the fight. It also brings families with shared experiences together, like a high school student appropriately named Blessing, who was born pre-term.
She and her family remember their journey and always come to support the cause.
“I didn’t know she was ever going to make it,” Blessing’s mother, Lakiesha Bentley, said. “We were sad. We went through the ups and downs. It’s amazing. This entire production brings you memories. You have some parents who weren’t fortunate as myself to have their child with them, so my heart goes out to them, for sure.”
“My mom says I’m the reason why our family is still together since I brought us through the highs and lows. I’m just happy to be here,” Blessing Morgan said.
This year’s ambassador family, the Raines family, told Local 10 News that their twins, Azalea and Lilly, were born two pounds each at 29 weeks.
Today, they are healthy and thriving, and the toddlers just celebrated their second birthdays.
“It was crazy,” Marc Raines said. “They were born so early, we went to the NICU. We would probably spend seven to 10 hours almost during their journey. We knew they were in such great hands with NICU nurses and doctors.”
Speaking of the hospital heroes, doctors and nurses say this goes beyond the NICU -- it’s about supporting the families and babies they care for.
“They think, oh you do so much for us, they don’t realize they do so much for us too,” one nurse, Alexandra Rodriguez, said. “They bring joy to my life, at least, so just a way to bring back to them, celebrate them, celebrate the happy success stories, even the sad ones. You have to uplift them and it’s who we do it for.”
There’s still time to donate to the cause, and there will be another March for Babies in Miami-Dade County in two weeks, on May 16.
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