Early Friday morning I went to an event where Congressman Leonard Boswell, of Iowa’s 3rd district, was catching up with some local Young Professionals over coffee.

I have been a constituent of Congressman Boswell since I could first vote and am currently 8 months pregnant with my first child. I know how extremely lucky I am and very grateful for the wonderful healthcare my child and I are receiving. I know that many women around the world do not have these opportunities and this year over a half a million women will die because of pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, over 9 million children (that’s 25,000 per day, or 17 per second) under the age of 5 will die as well because of preventable treatable causes. 97% of these deaths occur in developing countries where mothers have no access to simple healthcare, medicine or even sanitation during birth.

As a very hormonal and emotional soon to be mother my heart goes out to these women and children and that’s why I wanted to talk to the Congressman today. Rep. McCollum of MN, and Rep. Reichert of WA introduced a bi-partisan bill called the Newborn, Child & Mother Survival Act which if enacted will provide cost effective, proven interventions that will save the lives of millions of children and their mothers. I encouraged the Congressman to support and co-sponsor this important life saving bill not only as a constituent but also as a ONE member, I am one of over 3,500 members in his district.

His staff members said that Congressman Boswell is very supportive of bills like this. We also discussed recent activity such as the Powerful Noise documentary by ONE’s partner organization CARE, and International Women’s Day. It was good to see the Congressman and get a chance to talk in person about this very important bill, I hope to hear back from his staff about his decision to support it soon!

-Libby Crimmings