Each year, approximately four million women give birth in the United States, and even though the U.S. spends significantly more on childbirth than any other industrialized nation, America continues to rank far behind almost all other developed countries in healthy births. We must do better.

As a mom of young children, I’m familiar with the information and services available to pregnant moms in this country -- and my goal is to use this experience to translate into real-life solutions to improve birth outcomes for mothers and children.

For this reason, I helped launch the bipartisan Congressional Caucus on Maternity Care. Our focus is on finding common ground and moving forward on solutions that help save lives and lead to better health in mothers and babies. 

We have already achieved a number of successes, including:

Launching the first ever Maternal Mental Health Hotline to provide 24/7, free, confidential support before, during, and after pregnancy. National Maternal Mental Health Hotline: 1-833-9-HELP4MOMS (1-833-943-5746)

Passing landmark legislation in Congress, now signed into law, to help prevent maternal deaths;

Successfully allowing the inclusion of a critical vitamin in corn masa, which will help prevent life-threatening birth defects among Hispanic communities;  

Requiring TSA to better assist parents traveling with breast milk;

Pushing for more research for safe medication for moms and babies;

Addressing education gaps for prenatal screenings;

Fighting for protection for moms and babies from the Zika virus.