Y'all know our story. We thought we were just having our first baby, but we found out the hard way he would also be our last baby. All of our medical team did exactly just the right things to stop Finley's birth from leading to Joree's death, although we did not have a diagnosis in advance. But a lot of moms and families aren't as fortunate. The National Accreta Foundation is run by volunteers made up of moms also impacted by accreta. They provide tools for patient advocacy and awareness, work for better provider education, and most recently, support for moms during COVID-19 (often accreta diagnoses mean long hospital stays which, during COVID, mean weeks of isolation for expecting moms).
Unfortunately, 1 in 272 pregnancies in America now include accreta. We need more moms to be aware of their risks and more providers able to safely diagnose and treat this condition. Accreta babies are often also born pre-term and have long NICU stays, which add additional complications, burdens, and risk of infant mortality.
Would you join our team and run with us this October for National Accreta Awareness Month to support this volunteer-driven organization? You can read Joree's accreta patient profile on the National Accreta Foundation website at: https://www.preventaccreta.org/joreenovotny