[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 156 (2010), Part 12]
[Senate]
[Page 17718]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                   NATIONAL PREMATURITY AWARENESS DAY

  Mr. ALEXANDER. Mr. President, I would like to speak about the issue 
of babies born prematurely, an area Senator Dodd and I have been 
working on together for many years. November is Prematurity Awareness 
Month and today, November 17, is Prematurity Awareness Day. This year, 
in the U.S., approximately 28,000 babies will die before their first 
birthday. In Tennessee, 236 babies are born preterm per week on 
average, and, in 2007, 12,256 babies or 14.2 percent of all live births 
were premature.
  According to the CDC, babies who died from preterm birth-related 
causes accounted for more than 36 percent of infant deaths in 2006. In 
addition to being the leading cause of newborn death, prematurity can 
cause those who do survive a lifetime of health challenges and 
intellectual disabilities. Even infants born just a few weeks early 
have higher rates of hospitalization and illness than full-term 
infants. The last few weeks of pregnancy are critical to a baby's 
health because many important organs, including the brain and lungs, 
are not completely developed until then.
  We are making incredible advances in how we treat these children, but 
we need to do a lot more. This is a critically important issue. It is 
the kind of issue that deserves more attention. I am pleased to be 
joined by Senator Dodd in introducing the PREEMIE Act, which 
reauthorizes and builds upon our legislation from 2006. It is supported 
by the March of Dimes, American Academy of Pediatrics, American 
Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and Association of Women's 
Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, to name a few. I urge my 
colleagues to cosponsor this legislation.
  Mr. DODD. I thank my colleague. I am pleased to join my good friend, 
the senior Senator from Tennessee, in this effort. Five years ago, we 
stood on this floor discussing the risks, costs, and toll of premature 
birth. Following three decades of increases, in 2008, the Nation 
achieved the first 2-year decline in the preterm birth rate to 12.3 
percent. This rate is still too far from the Healthy People 2010 goal 
of 7.6 percent and our Nation earns only a ``D'' on the March of Dimes 
annual prematurity report card. According to the National Center for 
Health Statistics, in an average week in Connecticut, 84 babies are 
born preterm. More than half a million babies still are born preterm 
each year, a serious health problem that costs the United States more 
than $26 billion annually, according to the Institute of Medicine. I 
believe that the recent 2-year nationwide decline, albeit small, is 
encouraging and this should be the beginning of a positive trend. The 
recent developments must be supported by access to better health care, 
new research and new programs to lower the risk of preterm birth.
  This is why the Senator from Tennessee and I have introduced the 
Prematurity Research Expansion and Education for Mothers Who Deliver 
Infants Early Act. This important bill expands research into the causes 
and prevention of prematurity and increases education and support 
services related to prematurity. The March of Dimes has been an 
important partner through its leadership of a national prematurity 
campaign, but they cannot combat this serious and costly public health 
crisis alone. The Federal Government must partner with them to increase 
research on the causes of preterm birth. I hope more of my colleagues 
will join us in supporting this important bill.

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