Bill Text: NJ A5698 | 2018-2019 | Regular Session | Introduced


Bill Title: Establishes "Stillbirth Resource Center" and programs for the prevention and reduction of incidences of stillbirth; appropriates $1 million.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 3-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2019-06-24 - Introduced, Referred to Assembly Health and Senior Services Committee [A5698 Detail]

Download: New_Jersey-2018-A5698-Introduced.html

ASSEMBLY, No. 5698

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

218th LEGISLATURE

 

INTRODUCED JUNE 24, 2019

 


 

Sponsored by:

Assemblywoman  PAMELA R. LAMPITT

District 6 (Burlington and Camden)

 

 

 

 

SYNOPSIS

     Establishes "Stillbirth Resource Center" and programs for the prevention and reduction of incidences of stillbirth; appropriates $1 million.

 

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

     As introduced.

  


An Act establishing the "Stillbirth Resource Center," supplementing Title 26 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

 

     Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

 

     1.  The Legislature finds and declares that:

     a.  Stillbirth is defined as a fetal death which occurs after 20 completed weeks of pregnancy, excluding induced terminations of pregnancies occurring after 20 weeks, or the unintended death of a fetus weighing 350 grams or more when no prenatal obstetric dating is available.

     b.  Stillbirths are not rare and are one of the most common adverse pregnancy outcomes suffered by pregnant women.  Every year, approximately 25,000 babies are stillborn in the United States, a rate which is higher than that of other developed countries, and about 650 stillbirths occur every year in New Jersey.

     c.  As with most adverse health outcomes, there are longstanding and persistent racial, ethnic, age, and educational disparities for stillbirth in New Jersey.  Statewide, African American women experience stillbirth at more than three times the rate of Caucasian women, and more than twice the rate among other racial and ethnic groups.

     d.  Many factors, including genetics, environment, stress, social issues, access to and quality of medical care, and behavior, contribute to racial disparities in stillbirth.  Research on stillbirth has not been afforded the same attention as other areas of medical research.  As a result, the reasons for racial disparities in, and the causes of, stillbirth remain unknown.

     e.  Stillbirth is a traumatic event and its impact on families, who often need counseling and other support services after experiencing a stillbirth, has not be adequately researched.

     f.  It is in the best interest of the State to establish a Stillbirth Resource Center, in collaboration with the Department of Health, to educate the public and health care professionals about stillbirths, to promote research on treatments options to eliminate the preventable causes of stillbirth, and provide supportive services to families experiencing a stillbirth.

 

     2.  a.  The Commissioner of Health, in consultation with the "Stillbirth Resource Center" established pursuant to section 3 of this act, shall develop a program to educate the public and health care professionals about stillbirths and to promote research on treatments options to eliminate the preventable causes of stillbirth.

      The program shall:

     (1) include a toll-free, peer support telephone helpline to respond to calls from families experiencing a stillbirth, and refer such families to, and provide informational resources on, bereavement support and counseling services, including but not limited to, information on national organizations that advocate for and provide support to families experiencing a stillbirth, funeral homes, photographers, and other businesses and organizations that provide financial assistance to families throughout the bereavement process;

     (2) study common trends associated with, and conduct research studies focusing on, the risk factors and causes of stillbirth;

     (3) identify and promote the use of evidence based best practices and standards in providing prenatal care to pregnant women in improving fetal and maternal outcome; and

     (4) establish and administer an education and training program, including the preparation and dissemination of literature on techniques to prevent and reduce the incidences of stillbirth, targeted to specific groups of persons who interact with families experiencing a stillbirth, including, but not limited to, public health nurses, emergency room physicians and nurses, emergency medical services personnel, forensic pathologists, hospital pathologists, obstetricians, gynecologists, neonatologists, registered nurses, practical nurses, advance practice nurses, family physicians, midwives, maternal health experts, and social workers.  The program shall include:

     (a) training on the nature and causes of stillbirth, how to respond to families experiencing a stillbirth, including during the bereavement process, the protocols used by hospitals and health care professionals during labor, delivery, postpartum, and postmortem when a stillbirth occurs, the importance of autopsy records, placental and postmortem evaluations, and best practices in providing care to families prior to and during subsequent pregnancies after a stillbirth; and

     (b) a risk reduction and prevention education component to inform the public on the causes, and ways to prevent and reduce the incidences of stillbirth, and to provide pregnant women and women who may become pregnant with educational material and other resources on how to improve fetal and maternal outcomes after a stillbirth.

 

     3.  a.  The Commissioner of Health shall establish a "Stillbirth Resource Center" within a State medical school.  The Stillbirth Resource Center shall, in coordination with the Department of Health, serve as a technical advisory center, administer the program educating the public and health care professionals about stillbirths developed pursuant to section 2 of this act, and offer other supportive services that may be necessary to assist families who have experienced a stillbirth.  The commissioner shall forward information collected under the fetal death evaluation protocol established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2013, c.217 (C.26:8-40.29), on a bi-monthly basis, to the center so that the center may provide bereavement support services and conduct research on stillbirth pursuant to the provisions of this act.

     b.  The center shall:

     (1) develop a voluntary stillbirth reporting process, pursuant to which the mother or family who has experienced a stillbirth, or the mother's designee will be permitted, but not required, to report to the center on individual cases of stillbirth.  At a minimum, the process developed pursuant to this paragraph shall require the center to:

     (a) ask the department to post on its Internet website a hyperlink, a toll-free telephone number, and an email address, each which may be used for the voluntary submission of public reports of stillbirths; and

     (b) publicize the availability of these resources to professional organizations, community organizations, social service agencies, health care facilities, and members of the public;

     (2) develop a process, in consultation with the Department of Health, pursuant to which the center will contact each family of a stillborn child, if consent is obtained from the family, to offer information on the bereavement support services it provides pursuant to paragraph (4) of this subsection;

     (3) maintain a list of bereavement support groups, bereavement therapists, and counseling services, by location and county, and make the list available to the public through the Department of Health's Internet website; and

     (4) provide bereavement support services to families who have experienced a stillbirth.  The support services shall include, but not be limited to:

     (a) the development of an informational pamphlet to be given to a family experiencing a stillbirth that includes information about the toll-free telephone helpline established pursuant to subsection a. of section 1 of this act and the list maintained by the center pursuant to paragraph (3) of this subsection;

     (b) a peer to peer support program led by parents who have experienced a stillbirth, are familiar with the psychosocial needs of a family experiencing a stillbirth, and can provide support immediately after a stillbirth and guidance during the bereavement process; and

     (c) the organization of events and activities that provide support to families who have experienced a stillbirth.

     c.  The center shall keep a record of all reports of stillbirths that are forwarded by the department pursuant to subsection a. of this section or submitted thereto through the reporting process established by the center pursuant to paragraph (1) of subsection b. of this section, so that the center may:

     (1) provide bereavement support services pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection b. of this section;

     (2) conduct research on stillbirth and its effects on families; and

     (3) propose and assist in the implementation of policies and procedures to improve the delivery of health care and other support services to women experiencing stillbirth and their families.

     d.  The center may access information from certificates of fetal death and certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth contained in the New Jersey Vital Information Platform for the purpose of research on, and to identify current trends in the incidence of, stillbirth.

     e.  The center shall apply for, receive, and accept, from any federal, State, or other public or private source, grants, loans, or other moneys that are made available for, or in aid of, the center's authorized  purposes, or that are made available to assist the center in  carrying out its duties and responsibilities under this act.

 

     4.  There is appropriated annually $1,000,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Health to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

     5.  The Commissioner of Health shall adopt rules and regulations necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

 

     6.  This act shall take effect on the first day of the sixth month next following the date of enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health may take any anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for the implementation of this act.

 

 

STATEMENT

 

     This bill requires the Department of Health (DOH), in consultation with the "Stillbirth Resource Center," established under the act, to develop a program to educate the public and health care professionals about stillbirths and to promote research on treatments options to eliminate the preventable causes of stillbirth.

     Under the bill's provisions, the program would: include a toll-free, peer support telephone helpline to respond to calls from families experiencing a stillbirth and refer such families to, and provide informational resources on, bereavement support and counseling services; study the risk factors and causes associated with stillbirth; identify and promote the effectiveness of evidence based best practice and standards in providing prenatal care to pregnant women in improving fetal and maternal outcome; and establish and administer a stillbirth education and training program, including the preparation and dissemination of literature on techniques to prevent and reduce the incidences of stillbirth.

     The training and education program would be targeted to specific groups of persons who interact with families experiencing a stillbirth, including certain health care professionals, as outlined in the bill, midwives, maternal health experts, and social workers, and would include: training on the nature and causes of stillbirth; how to respond to families experiencing a stillbirth; the protocols used by hospitals and health care professionals during labor, delivery, postpartum, and postmortem when a stillbirth occurs; the importance of autopsy records and placental and postmortem evaluations; best practices in providing care to families prior to and during subsequent pregnancies after a stillbirth; and a risk reduction and prevention education component to inform the public and pregnant women on the causes and ways to prevent and reduce the incidences of stillbirth and how to improve fetal and maternal outcomes after a stillbirth.

     The bill also mandates the Commissioner of Health to establish the "Stillbirth Resource Center" in a State medical school selected by the commissioner.  The center would, in coordination with DOH, serve as a technical advisory center, administer the program educating the public and health care professionals about stillbirths established pursuant to the bill, and offer other supportive services that may be necessary to assist families who have experienced a stillbirth.

     The commissioner is required to forward to the center the information collected under the fetal death evaluation protocol established pursuant to section 3 of P.L.2013, c.217 (C.26:8-40.29) on a bi-monthly basis so the center could provide bereavement support services and conduct research pursuant to the bill.

     The provisions of the bill stipulate that the center would: develop a voluntary stillbirth reporting process that would allow a mother, family member, or the mother's designee, to report on individual cases of stillbirth; take appropriate action to ensure that any certificate of fetal death is prepared in accordance with, and contains information that satisfies the provisions of P.L.2013, c.217 (C.26:8-40.27 et seq.); ask the DOH to post on its Internet website a hyperlink, a toll-free telephone number, and an email address, each which would be used for the voluntary submission of public reports of stillbirths; and publicize the availability of these resources to professional organizations, community organizations, social service agencies, health care facilities, and members of the public; develop a process, in consultation with DOH, allowing the center to contact families who have experienced a stillbirth to offer information on the bereavement support services provided by the center; maintain a list of bereavement support groups and counseling services, by location and county, and make the information available to the public; and provide bereavement support services to families who have experienced a stillbirth.

     The center is required to keep a record of all reports of stillbirths that are forwarded by the department or submitted through the reporting process established by the center, so that it can: provide bereavement support services, conduct research on stillbirth and its effects on families, and propose and assist in the implementation of policies and procedures to improve the delivery of health care and other support services to women experiencing stillbirth and their families.

     The center could access information from certificates of fetal death and certificates of birth resulting in stillbirth contained in the New Jersey Vital Information Platform for the purpose of research on, and to identify current trends in the incidence of, stillbirth.

     The center would apply for, receive, and accept, from any federal, State, or other public or private source, grants, loans, or other moneys that are made available for, or in aid of, the center's authorized  purposes, or that are made available to assist the center in  carrying out its duties and responsibilities

     The bill also provides for an annual appropriation of $1,000,000, from the General Fund to the Department of Health to effectuate the purposes of the bill.

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