March of Dimes supporters will rally to raise awareness ofpremature births and to raise funding for research Saturday duringWalkAmerica at Exchange Club Park.

Event coordinators hope to reach a goal of $15,000 inBrookhaven’s second WalkAmerica, said Hope Smith, localchairperson.

The local campaign received a big boost when the BrookhavenExchange Club agreed to open the park to provide children withrides from 6 to 9 p.m., she said.

“It was real small last year,” Smith said. “The Exchange Clubhas agreed to let us use the park every year, so we hope it willgrow bigger and bigger.”

For a small fee, children can receive unlimited rides on thefair-style equipment at the park.

Registration is at 5:30 p.m. for the 6 p.m. walk, Smithsaid.

WalkAmerica is a fundraiser, but it’s also designed to promoteawareness of the dangers of premature births. Premature birth canhappen to any pregnant woman, and no one knows why.

March of Dimes is leading the campaign to reduce premature birthby supporting research and by educating the public and health careproviders.

“We are obviously trying to reduce the rate of premature births,and right now it is on the increase,” said Allen Burrow, a March ofDimes spokesperson in Jackson. “It has been on the increase for thepast few decades.”

Mississippi has the highest rate of premature babies in thenation, he said. One in six Mississippi babies are born premature.The national average is one in eight.

“We have some counties where one in five are born premature.(Lincoln County) is not one of those,” Burrow said.

Lincoln County’s premature birth rate is 13.2 percent, hesaid.

“That is a relatively low rate in our state,” Burrow said.

In contrast, Burrow said Holmes County has a 22 percentpremature birth rate.

Narrowing it down to Southwest Mississippi, he pointed to CopiahCounty’s 19.8 percent premature birth rate, Lawrence County’s 18percent rate and Pike County’s 17 percent rate as more typical ofthe region.

Burrow said causes can be identified in only 50 percent ofpremature births. Some of the identifiable causes include a motherthat is too young or too old, inadequate prenatal care, inadequatenutrition, drug abuse or a mother who smokes or consumes alcoholduring pregnancy.

“The other 50 percent we just don’t know why,” he said. “Inthose cases, we’re conducting research to identify the reasonswhy.”

March of Dimes awarded more than $24 million in grants toscientists investigating ways to save babies from birth defects,prematurity and low birthweight.

The organization also promotes parent education to help womenrecognize the signs of preterm labor and how to respond andprovides information and comfort to families in neonatal intensivecare groups.

Further funding goes to assist the more than nine millionchildren under age 19 who have no health coverage. Without March ofDimes coverage, many babies do not get the fundamental preventativecheckups, immunizations or treatments for common childhoodillnesses, Burrow said.

According to the March of Dimes Web site, 24.6 percent of theorganization’s funding is set aside for management and fundraisingwhile 75.4 percent is appropriated for programs that help preventbirth defects and infant mortality.