On April 30 at Headwaters Park West, thousands of families and business leaders will join together in the March of Dimes annual March for Babies—the nation’s oldest fundraising walk honoring babies born healthy and those who need help to survive and thrive.

This year’s Northeast Indiana’s Ambassador Family is the Lay’s. Mom and Dad were so excited to become parents and were looking forward to growing their family. At 32 weeks, Jessica Lay was taken to the hospital and placed on bed rest. She delivered Stefen at 32 weeks, 7week early. Stephen spent 5 weeks in the newborn intensive care unit of the hospital (NICU) before going home. Today, he is a vibrant 1 year-old baby, and the Lay family is dedicated to making sure other parents:

· don’t experience the same trauma; or

· have the same happy ending.

The Lay family is joined by Bill Muzzillo, the Fort Wayne March for Babies Chair. Bill Muzzillo, who is from GM, knows how important the March of Dimes mission is. As a Mother, she took on the role to raise awareness and important funding to provide for babies who are born prematurely or with birth defects.

Registration begins at 8:30 a.m 3- mile walk kicking off 10:00 a.m. Participation in March for Babies will provide a memorable and rewarding day for the whole family and the community! To register for an event in your community, visit www.marchforbabies.org.

Funds raised by March for Babies in Indiana help support prenatal wellness programs, research grants, newborn intensive care unit (NICU) family support programs and advocacy efforts for moms and babies.

Premature birth is the number one killer of babies in the United States. It affects about 380,000 babies – that’s 1 in 10 babies – born each year, including 9,862 in Indiana. This past November, the March of Dimes issued its annual Premature Birth Report Card, giving the nation a “C” and Indiana the grade of “C” The March of Dimes is committed to funding research to find the answers to problems that continue to threaten the lives and the health of babies.

For more than 75 years, moms and babies have benefited from March of Dimes research, education, vaccines, and breakthroughs. Find out how you can help raise funds to prevent premature birth and birth defects by walking in March for Babies at marchforbabies.org. Find us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter. The 2016 March for Babies is sponsored nationally by the March of Dimes number one corporate supporter Kmart, Famous Footwear, Macy’s, Cigna, United Airlines, and Mission Pharmacal.