So, why is the March of Dimes so important? Well, one good reason is surfactant. Without getting all scientific I will try to explain surfactant’s purpose in simple terms. Surfactant helps the tiny air sacs in the lungs to stay open. After birth, Grey’s lungs were so underdeveloped that his tiny air sacs would collapse- causing respiratory distress syndrome (RDS). His lungs would not open when he breathed in air.
After birth Grey received a dose of synthetic surfactant and then 3 days later he received another “rescue dose.” So, who was smart enough to develop artificial surfactant? In the 1980s, therapy using artificial surfactant was developed by March of Dimes grantee T. Allen Merritt, M.D., of the UC San Diego Medical Center. Since then, the number of babies who die from RDS has gone from 10,000 per year to fewer than 1,000. March of Dimes!!
When Grey was born, his lungs were in the bottom left development stage. He lacked alveoli (air sacs) to keep his lungs open. So he had the branches but he was lacking some very important leaves. These little leaves develop in the third trimester. The tiny air sacs that Grey had developed were able to stay open b/c of the surfactant he received.
So, our baby was able to grow from this...
To a healthy one year old...
Thank you March of Dimes for your outstanding research!
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