Gov. Kasich- Don't Balance OH's Budget on the Backs of Vulnerable Kids Like Mine
My daughter was born in the spring of 2008 about ten weeks ahead of schedule. My pregnancy progressed normally until suddenly it didn’t. She weighed a little less than three pounds at birth and spent the first six weeks of her life in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU). My husband and I felt completely unprepared not only to suddenly be parents, but to adequately understand and meet the needs of such a small, new person.
When we brought her home from the hospital, we relied not only on advice from the nurses in the NICU and her pediatrician, but also the occupational therapists that tracked her development for close to two years. As part of her continued care from her hospital stay, she automatically became part of a program designed to catch potential developmental issues early in order to avoid compounded problems later. My daughter will be three in May and is as bright and able as any other child in her class.
The budget proposed by Governor John Kasich drastically cuts funding to the programs which offer the services my family relied on when confronted with a scary, new and complicated situation. For the Governor to commit to “make life better for the most vulnerable Ohioans” in his state of the state address and then to effectively decimate the public services that provide essential information and comfort to parents with nowhere else to turn is outrageous. Prenatal care can be an important part of preventing preterm birth and low birth weight, but sometimes unexpected things happen even when a mother does everything right.
I do not presume that my experience is the same as any other mother’s. However, I do presume that no parent can be prepared for a child small enough to fit in the palm of your hand. I am expecting a new baby late this summer and anyone who has had a preterm birth is at risk for another. I felt confident that the information, services and care I relied on in the past would be there for me in the future. Now, I’m not so sure.
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