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 and the
immunization practices advisory committee of the United States
department of health and human services.

(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