The chronicle., 1963-12-26
March Of Dimes Doctor
Sees Hope For Victims
BY WILLIAM S. CLARK, M. ID.
Director, Medical Department
The National Foundation
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March of Dimes

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March of Dimes
How does a physician tell par
ents that their child has been
born with a serious birth defect?
What words will convey the
compassion the physician feels.
but, at the same time, be hon
est and direct to face the facts
that must be told?
This a problem encountered
25O, 900 times a year in til S
country. Each physician must
meet it in his own way, draw
ing on the best resources that
his general education, his medi-
cal training and his outlook on
life have given him.
| have had occasion to talk
with physicians all over the
country about these and other
matters, because for the last five
years, The National Founda-
tion-March of Dimes has devot-
ed much of its attention to the
task of eliminating birth defects.
The enormousness of this task
might be gagged by these facts.
One out of every Is children
born in this country today comes
into the world with a defect. AS
the population increases, t h e
number of children born t h
birth defects will increase pro-
portionately. More full-term in
fants die of birth defects than
any other condition, but thous-
ands of children born with birth
defects do not die. They live
to face serious mental and ply
steal problems for the rest of
their lives.
The major victory over birth
defects will come when research
finds ways to prevent t e S e
Gripping disorders. Currently,
scientific research supported by
your contributions to the March
of Dimes seeks answers to these
questions:
Why does something go wrong
when a tiny body is being FORM
ed? Why does it 60 wrong $50,
900 times a year in this coun-
Can some Of this be pre-
vented, with present knowledge?
What more do we need to know
to prevent this from happening
to other babies
We seek still other answers in
still other places. We seek
knowledge about methods Of
treatment for birth defects and
other Gripping disorders in near
ly 70. March of Dimes medical
centerS all over this nation.
These centers are connected
with leading hospitals, where
physicians on the faculties Of
more than half the country's
medical schools now partici-
pate in this program.
From these centers has come
one finding on which there is
universal agreement by the
world : renowned medical au-
thorities advising The National
Foundation: Early detection and
proper treatment can often cure
or minimize the disabling or
damaging effects of many birth
defects.
What reasons have we to say
this?
One answer is found in a
statement from DR.. Walter Bau-
er, chief of medical services Of
Massachusetts General Hospital
in Boston. and chairman of The
National Foundations Advisory
Committee on Research in Med
ical Care.
1.-THE challenge of birth de-
fects, the challenge of rheuma-
told arthritis, have gone unmet
through the ages, each devas-
tating in its toll, each battling
the science and the art of med
icine. . "a barren physiological
badlands where, until only a
few years ago, little research
had lowered into discovery, few
seeds of clinical Improvement
had taken root.
For National Foundation
centers, there was work to do
from the moment they opened.
Numbers of children requiring
the kind Of care the centers are