[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 78 (Thursday, June 2, 2011)]
[House]
[Page H3921]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               MOMS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY ACT INTRODUCTION

  The SPEAKER pro tempore. The Chair recognizes the gentlewoman from 
California (Ms. Roybal-Allard) for 5 minutes.
  Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD. Mr. Speaker, for 5 months this Congress has 
debated how best to address the looming crisis of our national deficit. 
While the debate has often been partisan and polarized, one thing we 
Democrats and Republicans agree on is that addressing our national 
health care expenditures is a critical part of the solution.
  A major component of the escalating health care costs in this country 
is maternity care. The cost of maternity care for mother and child in 
the U.S. is more than double that of any country in the world. But 
despite the exorbitant amount of money we spend on maternity care, the 
U.S. ranks far behind nearly all developed countries in maternal and 
infant outcomes.
  Sadly, childbirth continues to have significant risks for mothers and 
babies, especially in communities of color. Many factors contribute to 
these poor outcomes and high costs. The most disturbing by far is the 
fact that there is a vast body of knowledge regarding best evidence-
based maternity care, yet current U.S. practice does not follow that 
research. This results in the widespread overuse of maternity 
procedures, including cesarean sections and scheduled inductions, which 
credible evidence tells us are beneficial only in limited situations.
  Unfortunately, the overuse of these practices results in longer 
maternity hospital stays and multiple costly procedures that contribute 
to making combined mother and infant childbirth charges our most costly 
hospital and Medicaid expenditures.
  To address these poor outcomes and high costs, today I am introducing 
the Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services for the 21st Century Act. The 
MOMS for the 21st Century Act will create a national focus on optimal 
maternity care by establishing an interagency coordinating committee to 
ensure Federal agencies are promoting the best evidence-based maternity 
practices in their programs.

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  The bill also authorizes an extensive media campaign to educate 
consumers on how to achieve the healthiest maternity outcomes, 
including the importance of maternity practices such as smoking 
cessation programs in pregnancy and group model prenatal care.
  These and other noninvasive practices have been shown to produce 
considerable improvement in outcomes with no detrimental side effects 
but, regrettably, they are significantly underused in this country.
  Furthermore, the bill will expand research on best maternity 
practices and will direct collection of data on maternity shortage 
areas. It will also facilitate the development of more 
interdisciplinary maternity care workforce by bringing together 
maternity care providers to develop core curricula across maternity 
professional disciplines, and it establishes a loan repayment program 
for maternity care providers who commit to work in underserved areas.
  Finally, the MOMS for the 21st Century Act will support the education 
of a more culturally and linguistically diverse workforce by 
authorizing grant programs for maternity professional organizations to 
recruit and retain minority providers.
  Mr. Speaker, we can and we must do better for mothers and newborns. 
As a country, we must reach beyond our self-imposed boundaries to 
embrace and prioritize an evidence-based model of maternity care that 
will save lives and save money.
  I urge my colleagues to join me in this effort by cosponsoring and 
helping to pass the MOMS for the 21st Century Act.

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