Marissa Shaevel of Woodland Hills, California was named the 1996 National Ambassador. Marissa’s story illustrates the importance of appropriate and high quality maternity and infant health care for the prevention of serious medical problems. Today Marissa is a healthy active child. But when she came into this world on January 5th, 1990, she was an extremely sick little girl.
Marissa was born three months premature, weighing only 2 pounds, 5 ounces. She suffered weight loss along with complications due to her underdeveloped lungs. These problems alone put her survival into question. But in addition, Marissa was born with a blocked ureter, the tube that normally connects a kidney to the bladder. Uncorrected blockage of a ureter usually leads to destruction of the kidney.
She was rushed to the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) at UCLA Medical Center immediately after delivery, where she remained for her first three months of life. She underwent surgery at the age of five weeks so her kidney could drain directly to the outside of her body until her other medical problems stabilized. Six months later she had surgery again to establish normal kidney drainage via the ureter. Complications ensued, and Marissa was transferred to the care of a specialist in pediatric urology at Los Angeles Children’s Hospital. Over the following two years, Marissa underwent four more operations to repair her kidney in an effort to prevent the loss of the organ.
The operations were successful. “We are so fortunate that Marissa got the best care,” says Steve Shaevel, Marissa’s father. “We wish every family that has a child with a serious problem could have access to the same kind of care that our daughter had.”
Gail Shaevel, Marissa’s mother, credits the March of Dimes’ educational campaigns on the importance of early prenatal care for helping her decide to see a doctor as soon as she knew she was pregnant. Gail had high blood pressure during pregnancy placing her and her baby at high risk for complications. Because of this, Gail had more frequent prenatal visits and tests, during which her daughter’s kidney condition was diagnosed and monitored carefully. When Gail unexpectedly went into premature labor at 27 weeks of pregnancy, she and Marissa received additional high quality, specialized maternity and infant care.
As the 1996 National Ambassador, Marissa traveled across the country, attending March of Dimes events and meeting volunteers, celebrities and government officials to raise awareness of the March of Dimes mission. The March of Dimes is a national voluntary health agency whose mission is to improve the health of babies by preventing birth defects and infant mortality. Through its Campaign for Healthier Babies, the March of Dimes funds programs of research, community services, education and advocacy.
