I hope I am not intruding, but I found you through The Preemie Experiment blog and I have a request. I’m a newspaper reporter working on a large project about prematurity. I was hoping you would consider participating in the below questionnaire, sending this out to as many preemie parents as possible or putting it on your site.

I understand if you can’t, but I appreciate your consideration.Thanks!

Andrea Ball

(reporter and mom to 22 and 24 weekers)

P.S. If you would like to learn more about my work, you can see me here:

http://www.cartercenter.org/health/mental_health/archive/author/ball.html

Dear Preemie Parent:

Hi. My name is Andrea Ball and I am a reporter with the Austin
American-Statesman in Austin, Texas.

I am writing a large story about the mental health effects of premature
birth on families. This story is funded in large part by the Rosalynn Carter
Mental Health Journalism Fellowship Program.

The main story follows a family with three premature children. We look at
their childrens’ hospital stay, their challenges at home, the effects on the
parents’ marriage and the financial problems caused by medical costs. We
explore the issues of depression, anxiety and post traumatic stress
disorder. We are also looking at the long-term effects on prematurity on the
child.

As part of this, the newspaper would like an online presence of parents who
have been through all this.

If you are interested, please answer the following questions and email them
to rquigley@statesman.com and aball@statesman.com>

Please make sure you put the words PREEMIE PROJECT in the subject line so we
are sure to see it. Here’s what we need:

Your name

Your child’s name

Your city and state

Hospital photos and current photos of your child.

If you have videos of your child on YouTube, please send us a link.

Then, please answer these questions (there is no word limit):

What were the circumstances of your premature birth and at what gestation
did the baby arrive?

What was your NICU experience?

What has been your experience since your child came home?

Please discuss any mental health effects you or your child have experienced
as a result of prematurity (depression, anxiety, post traumatic stress
disorder, marital stress, OCD, bipolar disorder)

Please discuss resources you used to get your family through the
stressful/emotional part of this time. (counselors, spiritual leaders, etc)

Thank you so much for your help. Your kindness is greatly appreciated.

Andrea Ball