Political Quotes

“November is Prematurity Awareness Month, and I rise today to discuss the fight to prevent premature births. I remember my very first night alone at Bayfront Medical Center as a second year OB/GYN resident when I was summoned to the labor and delivery unit at 2 in the morning. There, I found a young lady who never had prenatal care, who literally was bleeding to death as her placenta was tearing away from her uterus. As we rushed her back to the operating room, I did a quick sonogram to figure out if these babies were viable. Just glancing at her, she looked like she was 22 or 23 weeks along. I quickly saw that not only was there one baby in this uterus, but there were two babies. Though we got the babies out in less than 30 seconds, both of those babies perished from their extreme prematurity. That has been 25 or 30 years ago, Mr. Speaker, and to this day prematurity is still the number one cause of death for infants. One out of ten babies are still born premature, and one out of three of those still die. Though we have done a great job in treating these premature babies, we have done very little to lower the incidence of premature births. That is why I rise today: to recognize this problem, and to tell everyone that the most important step you can do to prevent premature birth is early prenatal care. That is why, wherever I have been, whether it was a residency in St.…”