Bill Text: NY A00364 | 2019-2020 | General Assembly | Amended
Bill Title: Authorizes the professional certification of doulas; only those certified may provide doula services defined as continuous emotional and physical support provided by a certified doula throughout labor and birth, and intermittently during the prenatal and postpartum periods.
Spectrum: Strong Partisan Bill (Democrat 15-1)
Status: (Vetoed) 2019-12-13 - tabled [A00364 Detail]
Download: New_York-2019-A00364-Amended.html
STATE OF NEW YORK ________________________________________________________________________ 364--B 2019-2020 Regular Sessions IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled) January 9, 2019 ___________ Introduced by M. of A. PAULIN, GOTTFRIED, GALEF, JAFFEE, L. ROSENTHAL, COOK, SEAWRIGHT, ARROYO, BLAKE, DICKENS, PICHARDO, THIELE, McDONOUGH, SOLAGES -- read once and referred to the Committee on Health -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to professional certification of doulas The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem- bly, do enact as follows: 1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section 2 2509 to read as follows: 3 § 2509. Certified doulas. 1. Definitions. As used in this section: 4 (a) "Certified doula" means an individual certified under this section 5 who provides certified doula services. 6 (b) "Certified doula services" means continuous emotional and physical 7 support provided by a certified doula throughout labor and birth, and 8 intermittently during the prenatal and postpartum periods. 9 2. Use of title. Only a person certified under this section shall be 10 authorized to use the title "certified doula". 11 3. Certificate. The commissioner shall issue a certificate as a certi- 12 fied doula to an individual who applies for certification and who quali- 13 fies under subdivision four of this section. 14 4. Requirements for a professional certification. To be certified 15 under this section, an applicant shall fulfill the following require- 16 ments: 17 (a) Application: file an application with the department. 18 (b) Education: satisfactorily: EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets [] is old law to be omitted. LBD01668-04-9A. 364--B 2 1 (i) complete an educational program, in accordance with the commis- 2 sioner's regulations; or 3 (ii) submit evidence of certification, the educational preparation for 4 which is determined by the department to be equivalent to the foregoing, 5 from any state or country, satisfactory to the department and in accord- 6 ance with the commissioner's regulations. 7 (c) Examination: pass an examination satisfactory to the department 8 and in accordance with the commissioner's regulations. 9 (d) Age: be at least eighteen years of age. 10 (e) Character: be of good moral character as determined by the depart- 11 ment. 12 (f) Fee: pay a fee of forty dollars to the department for consider- 13 ation of an application for certification. 14 5. Scope of practice. Nothing in this section authorizes a certified 15 doula to engage in any act within the scope of practice of any other 16 profession under title eight of the education law or any other law, 17 unless the certified doula would be otherwise authorized to do so by 18 law. 19 § 2. This act shall take effect on the ninetieth day after it shall 20 have become a law. Effective immediately, the commissioner of health 21 shall make regulations and take other actions reasonably necessary to 22 implement this act on such date.