Maysa Leak has been captivating audiences with her soulful voice and lyrics for more than 20 years. She began singing at the age of 3, using a coffee table as her stage and demanding that family and friends be her audience. Years later, her drive to perform turned into an audition for Stevie Wonder. Blown away by the performance, Wonder asked Maysa to work on his next project, the Jungle Fever movie soundtrack. Soon after that happened, the winds of change and a transatlantic phone audition carried Maysa to London to be the lead vocalist for the acid-jazz band Incognito. Today, Maysa has achieved international success and still sings with Incognito as well as performs and records on her own.

The word "jazz" means much more to Maysa than the beautiful music she loves to sing. It's also the name of her son who keeps her as busy as her tour schedule. Maysa also just released her fourth album, titled Smooth Sailing, and somehow has even found the time to take on an important advocacy role, working with the March of Dimes and PreemieCare, being named the National Spokesperson for RSV Awareness. Things are finally falling into place for Maysa Leak, but it sure was a bumpy ride along the way.

Out of the Blue
Maysa was 6 months pregnant when her physician told her that she was in good enough shape to go on an international tour with Incognito. During an encore performance in Osaka, Japan, Maysa's water broke. She didn't realize what was happening since she wasn't due for another three months, so she went back to the hotel and went to bed. It wasn't until breakfast the next morning when the group's leader noticed she was in pain and called an ambulance that she finally realized she was in labor.

Maysa delivered Jazz at 25 weeks gestational age at a small hospital in Osaka. Weighing only 2 pounds, he was as little as a bag of sugar and fit in the palm of her hand. Jazz was immediately placed in the NICU, where he stayed for the next two and a half months. Alone and scared, Maysa turned to music to help get her through the crisis. "I wrote Out of the Blue to capture the emotional journey that I faced when my son Jazz was born," said Maysa.

"I prayed every day that Jazz would drink enough milk to reach 5 pounds – the weight necessary to be released from the hospital and travel home to the United States," said Maysa. After Jazz reached 5 pounds, he went home to Baltimore, Md., where he met his family for the first time.

Learning the Hard Way
Maysa was inundated with information shortly after her delivery, but learned about some of the risks of prematurity the hard way. Eight months after coming home from Osaka, Maysa thought they were in the clear, but they weren't. She thought Jazz had a cold, but then noticed his chest was heaving and he was having trouble breathing. When she took him to the hospital, she found out that Jazz had RSV.

Like many new moms, Maysa had never heard of a disease called Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV), but learned that it is a very contagious and common virus that's potentially very serious, especially for premature babies. Jazz was given a medicine once a month during the remainder of RSV season to help prevent a recurrence of RSV.

RSV is the most common cause of lower respiratory infection and viral death in children under 5 years of age and children under the age of 1 are especially vulnerable. Fortunately, Jazz didn't require hospitalization and the doctor taught Maysa preventive steps and prescribed a monthly shot to help prevent future episodes of RSV.

Knowing how serious RSV can be, Maysa is proud to be the National Spokesperson for RSV Awareness. "It was a frightening prospect to imagine Jazz's life being threatened by RSV," said Maysa. "My mission is to use my voice, both through music and speech, to reach out to other mothers of premature babies, educating them about prematurity, RSV and the steps parents can take to help protect their babies."

Know the Signs and Symptoms
Initially, the symptoms of RSV may be similar to a cold and may include fever, runny nose and coughing with difficulty breathing, difficulty eating, wheezing (a whistling sound), rapid breathing and a blue color around the lips. An infected baby can get very sick, very quickly. Since RSV complications can strike rapidly, parents of at-risk children need to act fast by calling their pediatrician or healthcare provider immediately if signs of RSV complications appear.

Infants, especially preemies, are most susceptible to serious RSV. The RSV season is the fall through spring. RSV is a highly contagious and easily transmitted virus. It is important for parents of at-risk babies to be aware that there are simple things they can do to help prevent their child from getting RSV. Maysa now tells parents that they can use the acronym CARES as a guideline to help protect their premature babies from contracting RSV disease:

• Clean hands before touching the baby.
• Ask friends and relatives not to visit if they have a cold, fever or sore throat.
• Respiratory illness: Know the signs and symptoms.
• Educate: Inform yourself, family and friends what to expect raising a preemie.
• Smoking: Don't allow anyone to smoke in your home.

Smooth Sailing
Prematurity may come out of the blue, but as Maysa found out, being educated is the key to making it through an unexpected event. Maysa's newly released album, Smooth Sailing, represents that with the proper knowledge things are going smoothly for Maysa and Jazz, who is a strong, beautiful, healthy little boy.

Maysa recently starred in a public service announcement about RSV to help spread the word to new parents about prematurity and the risks associated with it. Maysa is also working with Incognito again and will be touring with them this year while also promoting Smooth Sailing.