A campaign to raise awareness of premature births kicked off at the National Guard Hospital and Granada center mall in Riyadh.

The campaign organized to coincide with the International Children’s Day was inaugurated by Princess Oraib bint Abdullah.

Entitled, “Protect Me, Mom” the campaign included activities for kids and awareness programs for parents under the supervision of trained personnel.

The aim of the event was to educate parents about the side effects of premature births in terms of disabilities and other complications.

It was pointed out that 40 percent of mothers find it difficult to bond with their premature children as opposed to those who have normal babies.

Pediatric consultant, Dr. Samh Abu Zaid, said that the campaign succeeded in educating mothers about new methods to look after premature children and how to follow up on them in order to bond with them in a better way.

Abu Zaid underlined that there was a 10 percent increase in the number of premature births globally according to the latest statistics of the World Health Organization.

“This means there are annually 12.9 million cases worldwide,” he said, adding that the mortality percentage of premature children in the Kingdom had hit 30 percent with premature births considered the second most significant cause for child mortality among infants under the age of five and that there are 60,000 premature births in the Kingdom each year.