Anne Birkett

At the age of 22 I began my career as a neonatal intensive care nurse; I am one of the blessed few to have walked into a career I love on the day I started my job and I have never looked back.  16 years later, a lot of things in my life have changed, but I still love walking into work as much as I did as a bright eyed 22 year old--and the March of Dimes is still doing everything they can to ensure the health of moms and babies, both full term and premature.

I started working at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, DC in August of 2009.  This was where I first learned of the many resources that the March of Dimes provides to families who are in the NICU.  CNMC even had the March of Dimes family support program which allowed a March of Dimes employee to be embedded in the NICU for education and support for parents and the medical staff.  As I have progressed throughout my career, I have witnessed first hand the March of Dimes equipping families and nurses to be able to provide the best care to the most fragile infants.

On Valentine's Day 2015 my perfect nephew was born early.  As a NICU nurse, I knew in my brain that being born at 32 weeks he had a great chance to be completely fine, but being his aunt I was so worried for all the things that could go wrong.  Thankfully, Enzo is now a hilarious, brilliant 10 year old who brings so much joy to our family.  I am confident that the March of Dimes funded research that helped Enzo receive the best care possible.

In November 2016, I became a mom for the first time to my son Teddy.  Teddy was born after being overcooked for a few days, and he was a healthy 9 lb 2 oz chunkster who had no issues.  After his birth, I had a postpartum hemorrhage. Thankfully, my amazing nurse acted quickly and the team was able to stabilize me.   March of Dimes funds research and promotes legislation that improves care for both moms and babies.

During a global pandemic in May 2020, I gave birth to Maggie (having a VBAC!) I had the NICU team (AKA my coworkers) at her delivery, but thankfully, she didn't need their services.

Now, I'm back working at a children's hospital in their NICU, working with amazing colleagues taking care of some of the strongest babies I've ever seen. These kids inspire me everyday and there is still so far to go to help them and all babies live happy, full lives  

Please consider making a donation to the March for Babies to enable the March of Dimes to continue their important work to promote the health of all babies! (And put me out of a job!)