In Monterey County, more than one in 10 babies is born too soon. Premature babies often spend their first weeks in a newborn intensive care unit fighting for life, and often have lasting consequences such as vision and hearing loss or learning disabilities.

Walkers in the March for Babies give hope to the more than half a million babies born too soon each year. The money raised through the annual event supports lifesaving research and community programs that help women have healthy, full-term pregnancies and strong, healthy babies.

Cal State Monterey Bay administrators, staff and students will join the effort on Sunday, April 12, when they represent the university at the March of Dimes’ annual March for Babies.

On that day, CSUMB President Eduardo Ochoa and his five-member team; Alpha Kappa Psi sorority; the Asian Pacific Islander Association; and the campus Rotaract club will join hundreds of people on a six-mile walk along the Recreation Trail in Pacific Grove.

The walk will begin at 9 a.m. at Lovers Point Park, 630 Ocean View Blvd., Pacific Grove.

“We have chosen March of Dimes and the March for Babies as one of our key charity events of the year,” President Ochoa said. He noted that disparities in health outcomes are a significant problem in Monterey County as well as in California and the nation.

“The human costs can be heartbreaking, especially when our youngest children suffer the impact,” the president said. “Many Hispanic and Latino families are particularly at risk.”

More than 10 percent of the babies born each year inMonterey County are premature. Of those, 29 will not live to see their first birthdays.

March of Dimes is making a difference. The group has given grants for statewide and local programs, such as funding for the Soledad Community Health Care District Foundation’s Well-Baby Program.

“Walking in March for Babies is a great way to raise awareness about the hundreds of thousands of babies nationwide who are born prematurely or with birth defects,” President Ochoa said.

To support one of CSUMB’s teams, click here and type CSUMB in the “Find a Team” window.