Four astronauts splashed down safely in the Pacific Ocean after traveling 694,000 miles around the Moon. The mission was called Artemis II. The spacecraft they flew was named Integrity.

I sat with that word for a while.

Commander Reid Wiseman. Mission Specialist Christina Koch. Mission Specialist Jeremy Hansen. Pilot Victor Glover. Each of them represents a first in their own right. Each of them was once a newborn. Someone labored to bring them into this world. Someone held them, fed them, worried over them in the middle of the night. Someone, somewhere, did not know they were carrying a future astronaut,  a pioneer, a person who would one day look back at Earth from 250,000 miles away.

That is what I think about every time I care for a pregnant patient.

You do not know who you are carrying.

The next great healer. The next poet. The next scientist who finds the cure. The next person who changes the world in ways none of us can imagine yet. That life is already there, depending on you, depending on us, to do everything right.

This is why every pregnancy matters. Every birth outcome matters. Every moment where a clinician pays close attention matters. Every early warning sign that gets recognized rather than dismissed matters. Every woman who is heard rather than ignored matters.

The word Integrity does not only describe a spacecraft. It describes a standard of care. It describes what we owe every patient who trusts us with the life she is carrying.

Saturday was a good night. Four people came home safely. I hope that we hold that same standard for every mother and every baby, every single day.