Improving Access to Maternity Care Act

Mr. Speaker, when we came back from break, starting 2017, I wanted to share some thoughts on how we can all improve ourselves and our country here in 2017, but last week there was such a flurry of activity, I didn't have the opportunity to do so.

I came across an editorial in the Reading Eagle, a newspaper with circulation in my district. Harry Deitz, the editor of the Reading Eagle, had an editorial entitled, ``17 Simple Ways to Improve the World in 2017.'' I thought it was so absolutely excellent that I would like to share it with the American public verbatim:

``Imagine how much better the world could be if all of us resolved to make the world a better place. Imagine how much better it could be if just one of us did that.

``It really isn't difficult. We just need to make up our minds to do positive little things that will add up to positive big things. Often, they are things that don't take much time or energy. They may not cost anything. But the rewards--the paybacks--are immeasurable.

``So, in the spirit of a new year, here are 17 simple things we can do in 2017 to improve the world around us.

``1. There's an old caution sign at railroad crossings: Stop, look and listen. It also should apply to communication and understanding. Think how much better things would be if we stopped or at least slowed down, looked a person in the eye and really listened to what he or she has to say. That certainly would derail some of the anger and misunderstandings in the world.

``2. Say something positive to someone every day. You may never know how much a kind word or a compliment will mean to the person, but you will feel better after you've done it.

``3. Make a donation to charity. Money helps, but donations also come in the form of your time.

``4. Don't make judgments. There are people in the world who judge us before they know us. They judge us before they know all the facts. They disapprove when we have different opinions. Sometimes there isn't right or wrong--there is just different. Don't just talk tolerance--practice it.

``5. Say hello to a stranger. How much effort does it take? What is the real risk? Many of our best relationships began with a simple `hello.'

``6. Give something anonymously to someone in need. Don't look for recognition or appreciation. Focus on what you can do for `he' or `she,' instead of asking, `what's in it for me?'

``7. Have a conversation with a child. Not a lesson or a lecture. You may be surprised at how much you can learn and how much you can teach when you talk and listen.

``8. Make a call to someone you haven't spoken with in years. Better yet, visit that person.

``9. Don't wish away a single day. How often have we been anxious for a day to be over? We only have so many days, and we don't know how many. So even when things are going really badly, don't give up on that day. Think positive, and make every day special. And consider tomorrow a new opportunity to do what we weren't able to do today.

``10. Say you are sorry. It's never too late, and it's not as painful as it may seem.

``11. Forgiveness isn't only one of the best things you can do for others. It also is one of the greatest gifts you can give to yourself. It removes burdens. It helps you see clearly. It repairs what is broken. Time may reduce our pain but doesn't always remove it. Forgiveness will.

``12. Take a quiet walk. Look at the world around you. How can you help but marvel at God's creation when you push away all of the distractions in your life?

``13. Happiness isn't something we are given. It's something we choose. So choose happiness.

``14. Cherish your memories more than your possessions. They not only are more important, but they will last much longer.

``15. Smile. I can't think of an expression that can have a more positive impact on someone else--and on yourself. It's difficult to be angry or cranky when you're smiling.

``16. Pray for peace. If you believe in prayer, you already understand its power. If you don't, what do you have to lose?

``17. Tell people you love them. It's something you can't do too often. It's something they will never tire of hearing.''

Words well spoken, Harry Dietz.

Maternal Health Care

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 315, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act.

As we look to strengthen health care, one area where we must continue to show leadership is in the delivery of quality and timely maternal and prenatal care. Certain areas of the country, though, suffer from a shortage of professionals to provide this essential care.

For over 40 years, the National Health Service Corps has helped to place primary, dental, and mental health providers in underserved areas. This bill would use data collected from the National Health Service Corps to designate and place maternal healthcare providers in those areas of the country where they are most needed. This will help to solve the shortage of maternal healthcare professionals and ensure new and expecting mothers have access to the care they need.

Mr. Speaker, the statistics don't lie: mothers without access to prenatal care are more likely to experience serious but avoidable complications during birth, which makes passage of H.R. 315, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act, which I am proud to support, such an important bill.

Mr. Speaker, I move to suspend the rules and pass the bill (H.R. 315) to amend the Public Health Service Act to distribute maternity care health professionals to health professional shortage areas identified as in need of maternity care health services.

Mr. Speaker, I ask unanimous consent that all Members have 5 legislative days to revise and extend their remarks and to insert extraneous material in the Record on the bill.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 315, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act, which I introduced with Representative Eshoo.

H.R. 315 increases data collection by the Department of Health and Human Services to help better place maternity care providers through the National Health Service Corps repayment program. Currently, maternity care providers participate in the National Health Service Corps through the primary care designation, but they are not always placed where they are needed the most. H.R. 315 will require increased data collection on maternity care providers who will then be placed in geographic areas within existing health professional shortage areas, again, where they are most needed.

This legislation enjoyed broad support on the Energy and Commerce Committee, passing through the full committee markup by a voice vote in the 114th Congress.

H.R. 315 provides no new spending, Mr. Speaker.

I urge all my colleagues to support this legislation.

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Tennessee (Mr. Roe), the chairman of the Veterans' Affairs Committee and a fellow OB/GYN.

Mr. Speaker, it is my pleasure to yield 3 minutes to the gentleman from Georgia (Mr. Carter).

Mr. Speaker, H.R. 315, once again, is a bill that passed with overwhelming support in the last Congress. I hope that by taking it up early in this Congress, we will allow time for the other body to attend to this needed legislation. I urge my colleagues to support H.R. 315.

I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, on that I demand the yeas and nays.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 315, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act, sponsored by the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Burgess), a fellow OB/GYN and chairman of the Health Caucus.

One of the easiest ways to ensure a safer and healthier pregnancy experience for both mother and child is through adequate maternity care. Unfortunately, there are pockets across the United States where women do not have access to needed OB/GYN care, which puts both mothers and babies at risk should a complication arise.

As an OB/GYN who spent 31 years in practice, I find it unacceptable that 1 million babies are born to mothers who did not receive adequate prenatal care. Without that proper care, babies born to these mothers are three times more likely to be born at a low birth weight and five times more likely to die than babies whose mothers did receive adequate maternity care.

With a large number of OB/GYNs nearing retirement age and a female population expected to increase by 36 percent by 2050, there is no more important time than now to ensure adequate access to maternity care for all mothers, no matter where they live. A woman living in rural east Tennessee or rural Texas should have the same access to adequate maternity care as someone living in the city of Nashville, Memphis, Dallas, or wherever.

I am a proud cosponsor of this legislation that would require the Health Resources and Services Administration to designate maternity healthcare professional shortage areas and target maternity care resources where they are most needed, helping to ensure healthier pregnancies and healthier babies.

It was my job as an OB/GYN to make sure that mothers and their children

were healthy during and after pregnancy, and I feel very strongly about that duty now that I am here in Congress. While this bill will not solve the entire shortage crisis, I think this bill is a meaningful start. I urge my colleagues to support this legislation.

Mr. Speaker, I yield myself such time as I may consume.

Mr. Speaker, I rise in support of H.R. 315, the Improving Access to Maternity Care Act.

This important legislation would require the Health Resources and Services Administration to better identify areas with increased need for maternity care services. This would help ensure the placement of maternity care providers within the National Health Service Corps in areas with the most need for their services.

Improving access to maternity care providers in our most underserved communities will help reduce the poor health outcomes that can result when women don't have access to quality, prenatal maternity services that they need. Those outcomes can include increased infant mortality, preterm births, low birth weight infants, and maternal mortality.

To provide just one example of how limited access to quality maternity care service is affecting American communities is that while global maternal mortality rates have fallen by more than a third from 2000 to 2015, the maternal mortality rate in the United States has increased. In 2015, 25 women lost their lives during pregnancy or childbirth per 100,000 births in the U.S., compared to 23 women who did so in only 2000.

It is clear that we must do more to reverse the troubling trend and other poor outcomes that result in limited access to maternity care providers. Congress must make it a priority to ensure our women have access to prenatal and maternity care services.

I support H.R. 315. I urge my colleagues to vote ``yes.''

I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. Speaker, I rise today in support of H.R. 315, the bipartisan Improving Access to Maternity Care Act which I was pleased to introduce with Representative Burgess.

Today, millions of expectant mothers in rural and underserved areas in our country face lengthy wait times and have to travel long distances to receive maternity care. Without adequate care, they are at increased risk for complications and their newborns are at higher risk to endure health problems. Access to maternal health care professionals including OB-GYNs and midwives is a critical component of consistent, high-quality maternal health care from conception through birth.

In my home state of California there are only 4,856 OB-GYNs according to the Pew Charitable Trust, for almost 40 million residents, a shortage which can result in dangerous health risks and long-term consequences for new mothers and their babies.

I'm proud to support H.R. 315, which takes an important first step toward meeting the growing need for maternal health care professionals across our country. By directing the collection of data about current access to maternity care, this legislation will identify the geographic regions of our country that face shortages in maternal health care professionals and will eventually result in the distribution of maternal health care professionals, including doctors and midwives to areas of the country where the full scope of their medical practice can be utilized and where they are needed most. This bill makes important progress toward ensuring that all Americans, expectant and new mothers have access to the healthcare they need and deserve.