N.Y. Public Health Law § 2803-j: Information for maternity patients

* § 2803-j. Information for maternity patients. 1. The commissioner

shall require that every hospital and birth center shall prepare in

printed or photocopied form and distribute at the time of pre-booking

directly to each prospective maternity patient and, upon request, to the

general public an informational leaflet. Such leaflet shall be designed

by the commissioner and shall contain brief definitions of maternity

related procedures and practices as specified in subdivision two of this

section and such other material as deemed appropriate by the

commissioner. Hospitals and birth centers may also elect to distribute

additional explanatory material along with the maternity patients

informational leaflet. The commissioner shall make the information

contained in the leaflet available on the department's website and shall

present all annual statistical information compiled pursuant to

subdivision three of this section on the department's website for the

most recent five years for which such data is available.

1-a. The informational leaflet shall also include an explanation of

the special provisions relating to maternity care and coverage under the

insurance law and section twenty-eight hundred three-n of this article,

and suggest that expectant parents check their insurance policies for

the details of their maternity coverage.

1-b. The informational leaflet shall also include information relating

to the physical and mental health of the maternity patient after

discharge from the hospital, including, but not limited to, information

about maternal depression. The commissioner, in collaboration with the

commissioner of mental health, shall review and update the information

on maternal depression contained in the leaflet, as necessary. The

informational leaflets shall be made available to patients in the top

six languages spoken in the state, other than English, according to the

latest available data from the United States Census Bureau.

1-c. The informational leaflet shall also include a description of the

dangers of shaking infants and young children. The description shall

include information on the effects of shaking infants and young

children, appropriate ways to manage the causes of shaking infants and

young children, and discussion on how to reduce the risks of shaking

infants and young children.

1-d. The informational leaflet shall also include the recommendations

from the American Academy of Pediatrics relating to safe sleep,

including sleep space and sleep position, and discussion on how to

reduce the risk of infant death through safe sleep practices. The

information described in this subdivision may take the form of a video

in lieu of a leaflet.

2. Such leaflet shall also include statistics relating to the annual

percentage of maternity related procedures performed at such hospital or

birth center, as provided by the commissioner, including but not limited

to the following:

(a) the annual rate of cesarean sections, primary, repeat and total,

performed at such facility;

(b) the annual percentage of women with previous cesarean sections who

have had a subsequent successful vaginal birth;

(c) the annual percentage of deliveries by midwives;

(d) the annual percentage of births utilizing electronic fetal

monitoring listed on the basis of external and internal;

(e) the annual percentage of births utilizing forceps, listed on the

basis of low forceps delivery and mid forceps delivery;

(f) the annual percentage of breech births delivered vaginally;

(g) the annual percentage of births utilizing analgesia;

(h) the annual percentage of births utilizing anesthesia including

general, spinal, epidural, and paracervical listed on the basis of

vaginal and cesarean births;

(i) the annual percentage of births utilizing induction of labor;

(j) the annual percentage of births utilizing augmentation of labor;

(k) the annual percentage of vaginal births utilizing episiotomies;

(l) whether birthing rooms are available for use in the facility;

(m) whether rooming-in is available in the facility, on the basis of

twenty-four hours a day or daytime;

(n) whether the facility conducts safety drills to prepare for

obstetric emergencies;

(o) whether the facility participates in quality improvement

initiatives;

(p) whether the facility has an agreement and policy to arrange for

emergent transfer of care for critically ill pregnant people/infants to

higher levels of care (applicable only for those facilities that are not

the designated regional perinatal center or a quaternary or tertiary

care center with Level III-IV NICU);

(q) whether the facility has a written community needs assessment plan

to reduce racial disparities and address community needs;

(r) whether the facility offers, upon patient request, an autopsy for

stillbirth; and

(s) whether the facility offers bereavement support for patients that

have suffered a stillbirth or third trimester fetal loss.

3. Compilation of the statistics set out in subdivision two of this

section shall be the responsibility of the commissioner.

4. Statistical information shall be presented in the most recent one

year aggregate.

5. (a) The commissioner shall establish an immunization schedule for

newborn children. The immunization schedule shall chart out recommended

immunizations against certain diseases and illnesses and age-appropriate

times for the administration of each immunization. The immunization

schedule shall also include information on the importance of getting

children immunized at the recommended ages. The immunization schedule

shall also include the toll-free telephone number operated by the

department as part of its immunization education efforts. The

immunization schedule shall be in accordance with recommendations

established by the New York state department of health.

(b) The commissioner shall provide the immunization schedule to the

local registrars for distribution pursuant to paragraph (b) of

subdivision one of section four thousand one hundred thirty-seven of

this chapter.

6. Every hospital and birth center shall request that a parent and/or

parents, which shall mean and include biological and adoptive parents,

guardians, or other persons in parental relationship to a newborn child,

if available, view (a) a video presentation, approved by the

commissioner, on the dangers of shaking infants and young children, and

the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome, and (b) a video presentation,

approved by the commissioner, on the dangers of drowning for infants and

young children. After viewing such video presentations or upon refusal

to view such video presentations, the hospital or birth center shall

request that such parent and/or parents sign a form stating that they

have viewed or refused to view such video presentations. All training

materials and forms required to implement the provisions of this

subdivision shall be provided by the commissioner.

* NB There are 2 § 2803-j's