A proposed law that could save the lives of newborns has cleared the state senate and is waiting for action by the Missouri House. Chloe’s law is a personal crusade for one mother and her child.
Chloe is a healthy, active, two-and-half year old girl in Cass County. But an undetected heart disorder at birth endangered her life from the start until her mother, Kelly Manz, insisted on a test using a device often found in hospitals The pulse oximeter found her blood oxygen concentration level was only about thirty percent. You and I are probably in the 95 percent range or better. The test led to open heart surgery that saved her life.
The senate has approved Senator Dan Brown’s measure, called Chloe’s Law, that requires those tests on all newborns.
The device fits around the baby’s ankle. It is similar to a device that doctors or nurses clip onto the an adult’s finger during tests or procedures.
The proposal does not require the tests for home births. Brown hopes the mother takes the child in for a pediatric appointment as soon after birth as possible.
