[Congressional Record Volume 148, Number 113 (Tuesday, September 10, 2002)]
[House]
[Page H6132]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            DECREASE OF UNDERWEIGHT BABIES IN ORANGE COUNTY

  (Ms. SANCHEZ asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Ms. SANCHEZ. Madam Speaker, I rise today to commend the cities of 
Santa Ana and Anaheim for helping to bring down the rate of underweight 
babies in Orange County. Because of the high quality health care these 
cities have provided to women in my district, we have one of the lowest 
underweight birth rates in the Nation.
  Santa Ana and Anaheim have proven that prenatal programs are the key 
to lowering the numbers of underweight babies and infant mortality. In 
fact, one such program, Maternal Outreach Management Systems, or MOMS, 
a nonprofit organization, has worked hard to improve infant health by 
working with women who are undereducated or may not have the proper 
information. MOMS comes together to help, in particular to help those 
with young children or about to give birth.
  Out of the 46,000 born in Orange County this past year, only 5.5 
percent of the babies were born underweight. Programs like MOMS have 
given more women opportunities to provide a better life for their 
unborn children and a better chance at being healthy. Again, I would 
like to commend our cities of Santa Ana and Anaheim in helping with 
this.

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