"This is supposed to be a wonderful time, taking your new baby home, and there's this panic," said the Mt. Lebanon resident.

Free help line

A year ago, Fraasch formed Parent Resource Network to help parents of children born prematurely. The group's services include a toll free help line, hospital outreach to all six of the neonatal intensive care units in Pittsburgh, support groups and a helping hands program. In addition, the group is currently hosting a support group for parents who have lost an infant.

Fraasch was living in Washington, D.C. and visiting family in Chicago, when she went into premature labor was her first child, Taylor. By the time Taylor went home nine months later, she had been hospitalized in Chicago, D.C. and San Jose, Calif.

When her parents took her home from the hospital, Taylor, who is now 7, weighed less than 10 pounds, was on oxygen, had a tracheotomy and was legally blind.

Complex child

"We had a very complex child," Fraasch said of her daughter, who was born at 23 weeks of gestation.

Because of medical advances the number of premature children and those born with chronic illnesses and birth defects surviving their fragile beginnings are increasing, which means more families are in need of support, she said.

Last year, one out of every seven babies born in Pittsburgh was premature, she said. In addition, over 4,000 babies were treated in the neonatal intensive care units in Pittsburgh hospitals.

The problem is not confined to Pittsburgh, said Fraasch, adding that the network hotline receives many calls from outside the state.

The Parent Resource Network offers support and hope to those parents. In addition to it's other services, the group offers parent-to-parent mentoring and support to families until the child reaches age 22.

"This isn't just a one-year thing," Fraasch said.

For information, call 877-647-4373.