[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 79 (Wednesday, May 14, 2008)]
[House]
[Pages H3780-H3781]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           MATERNAL MORTALITY

  (Mrs. CHRISTENSEN asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend her remarks.)
  Mrs. CHRISTENSEN. Mr. Speaker, the fact that more than half a million 
women die in what is the most natural of processes and what should be 
one of the happiest, pregnancy and birth, is totally unacceptable and 
should call everyone in this world to action. But for simple and 
inexpensive medication, adequate trained providers, and because of 
poverty and poor sanitation, but mostly from the lack of an adequate 
global response to this tragedy, a mother somewhere dies every 60 
seconds.
  These same factors, in addition to lack of access and other social 
determinants of health, also cause maternal mortality rates among black 
women in

[[Page H3781]]

the United States to be three to four times higher than that of white 
women. Because of this, the United States ranks 41st in the world, with 
many poorer countries having lower mortality rates.
  Reducing maternal mortality is the fifth Millennium Goal and we are 
so far from reaching it. Last year, Johnson & Johnson and the 
Government of Norway stepped up in a big way to help.
  Just having celebrated Mother's Day, this is a good time for other 
companies and other countries, especially ours, to make sure we meet 
this goal and keep our, and all, mothers alive.

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