17 minutes ago
General
NIJMEGEN – Researcher Marleen van Gelder left today for a bike ride from Herpen (municipality of Oss) to Oslo. Van Gelder set up this campaign to collect money for research into premature births. She is a researcher at the Radboudumc Amalia Children’s Hospital in Nijmegen and has been invited by foreign colleagues to a meeting in Oslo. She cycles to Oslo to collect money and to draw attention to premature births.
Premature birth, a delivery before 37 weeks, is common. In the Netherlands, 1 in 14 babies is born prematurely, which is an average of 35 babies a day. They need extra medical care because they are not fully grown yet. Despite extra care, two of these children die, making premature birth the largest cause of death among children in the Netherlands.
In addition, 10 children a day are left with permanent problems from the premature birth, such as a physical limitation or developmental delay. All this has a major impact not only on the children themselves, but also on their parents and other family members. Due to the premature birth, an unexpectedly difficult and difficult time has come for them, with often a long (after) care process, according to the children’s hospital in Nijmegen.
Cause
The cause of most premature births is unknown. With more knowledge about the causes and biological mechanisms of preterm birth, we can develop solutions to prevent preterm birth. Unfortunately, there is no specific fund for scientific research into preterm birth, as there is for cancer (KWF) or cardiovascular disease (Hartstichting) for example. That is why Van Gelder is taking action to draw attention to premature births and to collect money for research.
Would you like to support her campaign and research into premature births? Please contact [email protected]
https://amaliakinderfonds.voorradboudfonds.nl/actie/fietsen-tegen-vroeggeboorte