Thousands of people lined up on Sunday to help the March of Dimes finish the mission they started 80 years ago, preventing premature births.
The March for Babies is the group's biggest fundraiser of the year.
Whether walking, running or sprinting toward the finish line in a cape, moms, dads and their children were in good company.
“It’s so inspiring to see babies that were born so early and just how good they are now," said Lauren Wardwell of Coventry.
According to the March of Dimes, pre-term birth rates are on the rise in the United States, currently sitting at just under 10 percent of all births each year. They say Connecticut ranks right in the middle with a C grade.
“We actually fund a lot of research to find out why we have preterm birth because in the United States it’s absolutely ridiculous how high the preterm births are," said Deb Fafard, the Executive Director of March of Dimes Connecticut.
Participants raised over $600,000.
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The Wardwell family knows all too well the impact that money can make. Their triplet sons were born two months early.
“They were in the NICU for six weeks, we were coming back and forth to the NICU and just having support from the March of Dimes while we were there was amazing, it was comforting," Wardwell said.
Cynthia Walder has four reasons to celebrate. All four of her children were born prematurely, three of them in Connecticut hospitals.
“My daughter was born seven weeks early, then we have identical twin boys that were born six weeks early after bed rest, and then Brett was born a month early," Walder said.
She's a big believer in the March of Dimes' mission.
“I didn’t feel alone, I knew what to expect. It’s very scary being in the NICU, there’s a lot of new terminology, there’s a lot of things you don’t understand so just really information and support, they really were very helpful," Walder said.
