Anne DeMaio

I Walk for Domenico James and Mia Isabella Devito

On March 7, 2017, my daughter Jenna and her husband Steve welcomed their first child, Domenico James, into the world. Dom arrived 12½ weeks early, but for twelve precious days, he was thriving. Then, on March 19, he developed a serious bowel infection called Necrotizing Enterocolitis (NEC). Despite a courageous two-day fight, we lost our sweet baby boy.

After this heartbreaking loss, Jenna and Steve were blessed with their rainbow baby, Emma Sofia, born full-term in June 2018. We believed Dom’s story was a rare tragedy—until September 2019, when Jenna’s water broke at just 25 weeks. Following a brief period of bed rest, Mia Isabella was delivered via emergency C-section due to a suspected cord incident. Sadly, Mia was deprived of oxygen for too long to recover, and after two short days, we said goodbye to another beautiful angel.

Through these unimaginable losses, we are deeply grateful to the NICU teams at Lankenau and CHOP for their tireless efforts to save our babies. Thanks to the research supported by March of Dimes and the expertise of Dr. Sara Nichols at Main Line Perinatal, Jenna and Steve were blessed again—welcoming Vincenzo Joseph in June 2021 and, to everyone's surprise, Luciana Marie in August 2025.

In memory of Dom and Mia, Team Dominate walks to honor their lives and to support critical research into premature birth. Our mission is to help fund breakthroughs that prevent others from experiencing the pain and aftermath of infant loss. Together, we can make a difference—and bring hope to families everywhere.