2 days ago
Metro Detroit mother says March of Dimes was "a lifeline" after son's birth
Kimara Mayberry was pregnant with her third child when she realized something was wrong when she began bleeding in her second trimester.
After undergoing testing, she was diagnosed with a high-risk condition called placenta previa.
"That's when I ended up being in the hospital for about two months, being on strict bed rest before I did end up delivering Nico via emergency C-section," said Mayberry. "And that's the first time I encountered March of Dimes."
Nico was born at 27 weeks.
She said she will never forget the day she met a volunteer named Marion.
"I was hysterically crying," she said. "The whole neonatologist team had just come in and started telling me, 'These are the things that probably are going to be wrong with your child' – if he were to survive. We didn't even know at that point. It was minute by minute. And she came in and she took my hand, and she says, 'I want to pray with you if you're okay with that.'"
With no family in state, Mayberry was alone in the NICU day and night by her son's side.
Marion came to visit her at the same time every day and acted as a liaison between her and Nico's medical team.
"She was just a lifeline for me," said Mayberry.
Fast forward three decades, and she said today, Nico is thriving.
"He has graduated from college, he has his bachelor's degree, his master's degree, he's engaged to be married," she said. "He is just a wonderful young man, and I could not be more proud of him."
She said her experience with March of Dimes inspired her to become a lifelong advocate.
"I have been fundraising for them for many, many years," she said. "I've always supported and volunteered. And I have been able to now be on the leadership team for the Board for Southeast Michigan to be able to help push those initiatives forward in our area, and to be a point of contact. I have been the mom who has used those resources."
She said she remembers how terrified she was to face the situation she was in by herself, with no resources, and it's become her mission to pay it forward.
"We've been around for 87 years," she said. "There are a lot of nonprofits that folded way before then. And so, just being able to sustain during crisis, during the pandemic – we're still here, and we're still thriving, and we're still able to impact moms and babies. And that's the most important thing."
