Colorado U.S. Senator Michael Bennet today applauded the House of Representative’s passage of a bipartisan bill he introduced with Senator Lamar Alexander (R-TN), ranking member on the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, to reduce infant deaths and disabilities by expanding research, education, and intervention activities related to preterm birth. The bill now heads to the President’s desk to be signed into law.
“In an average week in Colorado, 138 infants are born preterm. This bill will help doctors and medical researchers who are working to find new and innovative ways to give our kids the best chance at a long and healthy life,” Bennet said. “This is important research that will help understand the causes and what can be done to reduce the rate of preterm births.”
The “PREEMIE” bill passed the Senate unanimously in September. The bill reauthorizes the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) research and programs on preterm birth, including improving national data tracking on preterm birth, and conducting studies. It also reauthorizes programs at the Health Resources and Services Administration aimed at improving the treatment and outcome for infants born premature.
The bill is supported by the March of Dimes Foundation, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, the Association of Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses, the Association of Maternal & Child Health Programs, and the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine.