When Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.) introduced legislation recently requiring hospitals to disclose their ability to save premature babies, he exposed every parent's worst nightmare. We're gambling with our children's lives at hospitals that may not be equipped to save them. Cotton's Neonatal Care Transparency Act is vital, but it's part of a bigger issue — 2,100 children dying annually in emergency rooms that are also unprepared — and these emergencies can strike any family, any time.

"It’s only a common cold, you can take her home — I need to get to the real emergency down the hall." These dismissive words have haunted me for nearly 18 years, costing my only daughter Rebecca her life. She wasnine days old.

My daughter's story underscores the same national crisis that prompted Cotton's legislation: most hospitals are not prepared to care for our kids when it matters most. Rebecca was one of over 2,100 children whose lives could have been saved if their ERs were prepared for pediatric patients.

Over 30 million children visit the ER annually, yet the median grade for pediatric emergency readiness in

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