DELAURO, HAGAN INTRODUCE BIRTH DEFECTS PREVENTION, RISK REDUCTION, AND AWARENESS ACT

Washington, DC— Congresswoman Rosa L.DeLauro (CT-3) and Senator Kay Hagan (D-NC) introduced the Birth Defects Prevention, Risk Reduction, and Awareness Act today. This legislationwill help to provide information to pregnant and breast-feeding womenabout the potential impacts of medications, chemical exposures,foodborne illness and other exposures on their infants.

Over 70,000 women and health careproviders across the country seek answers to important questions frompregnancy risk information services (PRISs) each year. Currently, thefederal government does not provide these services nor offer equivalentpersonalized services—and as a result, over the last decade, more thanhalf of these services have closed due to lack of funding. Thislegislation will authorize grant funding for these critical informationservices and help women get answers to their critical questions aboutdrug safety, chemical exposures, and other potential risks to theirpregnancies and children.

"Research has shown that up to half ofpregnant women are not aware of the potential risks of medications theymay be taking— and the programs that provide this information toindividuals and their health care providers are becoming scarcer.Expectant and breast-feeding mothers should be able to have access tothe information they need to keep their children safe. This legislationwill help to ensure that they will be able to obtain important factsabout the risks of medication, illnesses and other potential dangersduring pregnancy and breastfeeding," said Congresswoman DeLauro. "Ourchildren's wellbeing is a critical issue, and simply providinginformation such as this will help to keep them safe."

"Many birth defects can be prevented ifwe simply give women the information they need," said Hagan, a member of the committee with jurisdiction over health care. "This bill will givewomen more resources – and the result will be healthier babies. I amcommitted to working with my colleagues across the aisle to pass thislegislation, which will help save lives."