[Congressional Record Volume 162, Number 163 (Tuesday, November 15, 2016)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1476]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                 IMPROVING ACCESS TO MATERNITY CARE ACT

                                 ______
                                 

                               speech of

                        HON. SHEILA JACKSON LEE

                                of texas

                    in the house of representatives

                       Monday, November 14, 2016

  Ms. JACKSON LEE. Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 1209, the 
``Improving Access to Maternity Care Act.''
  This important measure will require the Health Resources and Services 
Administration to designate maternity care health professional shortage 
areas and review these designations at least annually.
  A maternity care health professional shortage area is described as:
  any area with a shortage of full scope maternity care health 
services; or
  any geographical area home to a population group experiencing a 
shortage of such providers or facilities.
  Full scope maternity care includes: (1) care during labor, (2) 
birthing, (3) prenatal care and (4) postpartum care.
  H.R. 1209 will address the concern of shortages in provision of care, 
and improve access to maternal medical care for women in need.
  Access to better maternal care will ensure a safer delivery for both 
mother and child, safeguarding the bedrock of the American family.
  Approximately 34,000 women die each year in the United States from 
pregnancy-related complications--one every fifteen minutes.
  The risk is two times greater for women living in high-poverty areas, 
than for women living in low-poverty areas.
  African-American women are 3-4 times more likely to die from 
pregnancy-related causes, a travesty we cannot continue to allow to 
occur in 2016 in the United States.
  In 2010, almost 50 percent of counties in the country did not have 
OB/GYNs who provided direct patient care to expecting mothers, and 
almost all of these counties had no certified nurse-midwives.
  Limited access to maternity care providers has greatly extended wait 
and travel times for patients' appointments, and exacerbated capacities 
at prenatal care sites and birthing facilities.
  Maternal medical care is among the top reasons for the 
hospitalization of women in the United States.
  Hospitalization can be costly, in 2010 child delivery and newborn 
infant care cost American families $111 billion.
  The designation of maternity care health services professional 
shortage areas can help to reduce maternal care cost by allowing for 
greater access to prenatal care and giving women safe delivery options 
within their local communities.
  For these reasons, I support H.R. 1209 the ``Improving Access to 
Maternity Care.''

                          ____________________