Bill Text: CA AB2418 | 2019-2020 | Regular Session | Introduced
Bill Title: Perinatal hospice.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Republican 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2020-02-24 - Referred to Com. on HEALTH. [AB2418 Detail]
Download: California-2019-AB2418-Introduced.html
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2019–2020 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2418
| Introduced by Assembly Member Patterson |
February 18, 2020 |
An act to add Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 123530.01) to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to maternal mental health.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2418, as introduced, Patterson.
Perinatal hospice.
Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, implementation and administration of a community‑based system of perinatal care for eligible women and infants.
Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate specified health facilities, including a general acute care hospital, a special hospital, and other types of specialized facilities. Existing law defines a perinatal unit as a maternity and newborn service of a hospital for the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods, as specified.
Existing law requires a general acute care hospital or special hospital that has a perinatal unit to develop and implement a program relating to maternal
mental health conditions, including, but not limited to, postpartum depression. Existing law requires the program to include, among other things, education and information about maternal mental health conditions for women, families, and hospital perinatal unit employees, as specified.
This bill would require the State Department of Public Health to develop and regularly update a list of perinatal hospice providers and programs in the state, post the list on its internet website, and make the list available in written format, upon request, to all hospitals with a perinatal unit. The bill would require a hospital to inform a patient who receives a fatal fetal diagnosis about options relating to perinatal hospice, and to inform a patient who experiences a miscarriage or stillbirth, or who receives a fatal fetal diagnosis, of the options available to them with respect to matters, including, but not limited to, time allowed to be spent with the baby after delivery and
availability of medical testing of the fetus.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Article 3.5 (commencing with Section 123530.01) is added to Chapter 2 of Part 2 of Division 106 of the Health and Safety Code, to read:Article 3.5. Perinatal Hospice
123530.01.
(a) The department shall develop and regularly update a list of perinatal hospice providers and programs in the state. The department shall post the list of providers and programs on its internet website. The department also shall make the list available in written format, upon request, to all hospitals with a perinatal unit.(b) For purposes of this section, “perinatal unit” means a maternity and newborn service of the hospital for the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods with appropriate staff, space, equipment, and supplies.
123530.05.
(a) A general acute care hospital or special hospital that has a perinatal unit shall inform a patient who receives a fatal fetal diagnosis about options relating to perinatal hospice.(b) A general acute care hospital or special hospital that has a perinatal unit shall inform a patient who experiences a miscarriage or stillbirth, or who receives a fatal fetal diagnosis, of the options available to them with respect to all of the following, as applicable:
(1) Time allowed to be spent with the baby after delivery.
(2) The availability of medical testing of the fetus.
(3) Burial or cremation of remains.
(4) The opportunity to take photographs.
(5) The availability of keepsakes, such as hand print and footprint cards, hospital blankets and hats, and any other options that the hospital provides.
(c) Information under this section shall be provided at the time of diagnosis or at the earliest reasonable time after diagnosis. The information may be provided orally, electronically, or in writing.
