Page 5 - Hawaii Island MidWeek - March 23, 2022

ket Candice Fajardo — the nonprofit organization is ready to hone in on rebuild- ing and rebranding.
with organizations that will holistically perpetuate its mission of “healthy moms, strong babies.” One of its newest board members, for example, is U.S. Renal Care, which is helping the orga- nization to educate mothers about diabetes and hyperten- sion. Lee, for his part, looks at it with a different lens and puts an emphasis on educat- ing employers because “the majority of birthing parents will probably be working,” he shares.
MARCH 23, 2022
HAWAI‘I ISLAND MIDWEEK 5
March of Dimes, Hawai‘i Chapter is continuously working to educate, empower and support moms, and one way the com- munity can help is by taking part in its March of Hope: A Brunch to Honor Moms on March 27 at Alohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach.
Dr. Angela Pratt
The fundraising event will recognize Dr. An- gela Pratt, chair of ob- stetrics and gynecology at Kapi‘olani Medical Center for Women & Children (the first Na-
delivered at Kapi‘olani.” During March of Hope, guests can also expect a fashion show featuring moms and ba- bies, entertainment by Anuhea and Ginny Tiu, and delicious food from
Martha Smith
tive Hawaiian and first female to hold the position), as well as the late Martha Smith, the former CEO of Ka- piʻolani Medical Center and executive vice president of O‘ahu operations for Hawaiʻi Pacific Health, for their efforts in supporting
moms and babies.
“This was Martha Smith’s dream to build
the Diamond Head Tower (where the NICU is located at Kapiʻolani), so that these ba- bies could be cared for in the best possi- ble environment,” explains Pratt. “When I first met Martha
decades ago, we often dreamed of this and what we could do to make this happen. Mar- tha was a vision- ary, a woman of action, an exem- plary leader who brought dreams to reality.”
For Pratt, the
story of the Diamond Head Tower has come full circle, as her journey with the hospital started before she was even born. Pratt’s mother was admitted to Kapiʻolani after sustaining injuries during a motor vehicle accident. After emergency surgery, Pratt’s mom was admitted for preterm labor.
“In those times, a 24-week fetus would never survive if born,” Pratt explains. “Luckily, both of us survived and she car- ried me to full term where I was born at Kapiʻolani Center for Women & Children in excellent health. I am so proud to have been
award-winning Alohilani Resort Waikīkī Beach.
For co-chair Ellie Ventula-Honda, March of Dimes is an organization close to her heart. Born premature at just under 5 pounds at St. Francis Hospital, Ventu- la-Honda now is an advocate for education and support for moms and babies in Hawaiʻi and beyond. She and fellow co-chair Kelly Sanders, executive vice president of oper- ations at Highgate, look forward to having
each guest better understand the mission of March of Dimes and how it benefits not only moms and babies, but the communi- ty at large. Their hope is that each guest “leaves the event knowing that their contin- ued support will
help to make an impact in funding educa- tion and resources for improving quality prenatal care for moms and babies.”
And its newly imagined brunch isn’t all the organization has planned this spring. On April 23, March of Dimes presents its flagship fundraiser, the 52nd annual March for Babies: A Mother of a Movement, at Kapiʻolani Park.
To register for either event, visit marchof- dimes.org/events and enter “Honolulu” in
the city location box.
Martha Smith poses with several of the
Children’s Miracle Network champions.
PHOTO COURTESY HAWAI‘I PACIFIC HEALTH
— Nicole Monton
Rallying For Full-term, Healthy Pregnancies
FROM PAGE 4
Celebrating the holidays with jolly old St. Nicholas are the Edies — (from left) Shannon, Savannah, Richard and Dylan.
PHOTOS COURTESY SHANNON EDIE
“We want to create an im- pact with our mission, being able to look at all lenses of pregnancy for healthy moms and babies,” Fajardo ex- plains. “Education is really important to us, and we want to be more transformational than transactional.”
Fraternal twins Dylan and Savannah Edie spent their first six weeks inside Kapi‘olani Medical Center’s NICU.
Already, the local team has jumped into action, col- lecting supplies for military families affected by the con- taminated water at the Red Hill underground storage fa- cility at Pearl Harbor. It’s also partnered with Hui Mālama Ola Nā ʻŌiwi on the Big Is- land to provide fresh produce and prenatal kits for pregnant families. Fajardo also has plans to use a mobile van to bring health care to preg- nant mothers in communities around the state, and her team is working on getting a full- time NICU family support program up and running — and not just at Kapiʻolani, but at hospitals around the state, too.
“Once a baby is born pre- mature, the families are in the NICU from a week to months, and providing a family support coordinator goes a long way,”
notes Fajardo. “When we hear stories from families like the Edies, who say that if it wasn’t for March of Dimes offering these services, it would have been such a dark time in their lives.”
There’s no doubt that the March of Dimes team has its boots on the ground in Ha- waiʻi, but it’s also doing its part to aid in funding inno- vation on a large scale.
The organization contin- ues to be proactive about prenatal education, and that begins by helping mothers to understand proper nutrition and why making healthy choices matter.
“There’s this amazing na- tional research arm,” Lee says. “They take different disci- plines in medicine to figure out what causes a mom to deliver prematurely. We can specu- late age, ethnicity or multiple births, but it’s not conclusive.”
“Our whole future starts with moms and babies, and a lot of it starts before you even think of conceiving,” explains Howard Lee, March of Dimes board chair, and president and CEO of UHA Health Insurance.
The research, though, is coming along nicely, and they’ re getting closer to un- derstanding precisely why a mother might deliver earlier than normal.
Education, though, ex- tends far beyond just the mother, and March of Dimes is actively working to partner
“I’m crossing my fingers for the day we can discov- er that and cure premature birth,” Lee adds.