[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 76 (Thursday, June 9, 2005)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1185-E1186]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            PREMATURE BIRTH: A SILENT, GROWING HEALTH CRISIS

                                 ______
                                 

                            HON. FRED UPTON

                              of michigan

                    in the house of representatives

                         Thursday, June 9, 2005

  Mr. UPTON. Mr. Speaker, prematurity is a serious and growing problem 
in the United States. It is the number one cause of infant death in the 
first month of life. In February

[[Page E1186]]

2004, the National Center for Health Statistics reported the first 
increase in the U.S. infant mortality rate since 1958.
  Prematurity has enormous human, societal, and economic costs. Sadly, 
premature infants are 14 times more likely to die in their first year 
of life, and premature births account for nearly 24 percent of deaths 
in the first month of life. The estimated charges for hospital stays 
for premature and low-birth weight infants were $15,000,000,000 in 
2002, and the average lifetime medical costs for a premature baby are 
conservatively estimated at $500,000. About 25 percent of the youngest 
and smallest babies live with long-term health problems, including 
cerebral palsy, blindness, chronic respiratory problems, and other 
chronic conditions. A study published in 2002 by the Journal of the 
American Medical Association found that children born prematurely are 
at greater risk for lower cognitive test scores and behavioral problems 
when compared to full-term children.
  Although we've made vast improvements in treating premature infants, 
we've had little success in understanding and preventing premature 
birth, and the knowledge that we have gained has not been translated 
into improved perinatal outcomes. The three known risk factors for 
preterm labor most consistently identified by experts are multiple 
fetal pregnancies, a past history of preterm delivery, and some uterine 
and/or cervical abnormalities. Other possible risk factors are chronic 
health conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, and obesity in 
the mother, certain infections during pregnancy, and cigarette smoking, 
alcohol use, or illicit drug use during pregnancy. But as the science 
stands now, nearly 50 percent of all premature births have no known 
cause.
  That is why today, my colleague Rep. Anna Eshoo and I are introducing 
the bipartisan Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers 
who deliver Infants Early or PREEMIE Act. The Preemie Act calls on the 
National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the Centers for Disease Control 
and Prevention (CDC) to ``expand, intensify, and coordinate'' research 
related to prematurity. It formally authorizes the Maternal Fetal 
Medicine Unit Network--which includes university-based clinical centers 
and a data coordination center--through which perinatal studies to 
improve maternal and fetal outcomes are conducted. It also authorizes 
the Neonatal Research Network to improve the care and outcomes of 
newborns. The bill will ensure better coordination on prematurity 
research priorities across federal agencies and also includes 
provisions for disseminating information on prematurity to health 
professionals and the public and for establishing family support 
programs to respond to the needs of families with babies in neonatal 
intensive care units.
  I encourage my colleagues to join Rep. Eshoo and me in cosponsoring 
and strongly supporting the enactment of the PREEMIE Act.

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