BILL NUMBER: SB 1479 CHAPTERED 09/05/00 CHAPTER 303 FILED WITH SECRETARY OF STATE SEPTEMBER 5, 2000 APPROVED BY GOVERNOR SEPTEMBER 1, 2000 PASSED THE SENATE AUGUST 22, 2000 PASSED THE ASSEMBLY AUGUST 18, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY AUGUST 7, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 3, 2000 AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY JUNE 21, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE MAY 25, 2000 AMENDED IN SENATE APRIL 3, 2000 INTRODUCED BY Senator Figueroa (Coauthors: Senators Haynes and Vasconcellos) (Coauthors: Assembly Members Bock and Mazzoni) FEBRUARY 10, 2000 An act to repeal and add Section 2508 of the Business and Professions Code and to amend Section 102415 of the Health and Safety Code, relating to midwifery. LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST SB 1479, Figueroa. Midwives: authorized practices: birth certificates. Under existing law, licensed midwives are required to make specified disclosures to a client regarding the supervising physician' s role. A violation of the licensing statutes for midwifery is a misdemeanor. This bill would expand the disclosures that are required to be made to a client by a licensed midwife, and by adding to these provisions, this bill would create new crimes and thereby would impose a state-mandated local program. Existing law also requires, with respect to a live birth occurring outside of a hospital, that the physician in attendance, or in the absence thereof, either of the parents, prepare and register the birth certificate. This bill would require a professionally licensed midwife in attendance at a live birth outside the hospital, where no physician is present, to prepare and register a birth certificate. This bill would also make these provisions applicable to live births that occur outside a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined. The bill also would make legislative findings and declarations regarding childbirth and midwives. The California Constitution requires the state to reimburse local agencies and school districts for certain costs mandated by the state. Statutory provisions establish procedures for making that reimbursement. This bill would provide that no reimbursement is required by this act for a specified reason. THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS: SECTION 1. Section 2508 of the Business and Professions Code is repealed. SEC. 2. Section 2508 is added to the Business and Professions Code, to read: 2508. (a) A licensed midwife shall disclose in oral and written form to a prospective client all of the following: (1) All of the provisions of Section 2507. (2) If the licensed midwife does not have liability coverage for the practice of midwifery, he or she shall disclose that fact. (3) The specific arrangements for the transfer of care during the prenatal period, hospital transfer during the intrapartum and postpartum periods, and access to appropriate emergency medical services for mother and baby if necessary. (4) The procedure for reporting complaints to the Medical Board of California. (b) The disclosure shall be signed by both the licensed midwife and the client and a copy of the disclosure shall be placed in the client's medical record. (c) The Medical Board of California may prescribe the form for the written disclosure statement required to be used by a licensed midwife under this section. SEC. 3. Section 102415 of the Health and Safety Code is amended to read: 102415. For live births that occur outside of a hospital or outside of a state-licensed alternative birth center, as defined in paragraph (4) of subdivision (b) of Section 1204, the physician in attendance at the birth or, in the absence of a physician, the professionally licensed midwife in attendance at the birth or, in the absence of a physician or midwife, either one of the parents shall be responsible for entering the information on the certificate, securing the required signatures, and for registering the certificate with the local registrar. SEC. 4. The Legislature finds and declares that: (a) Childbirth is a normal process of the human body and not a disease. (b) Every woman has a right to choose her birth setting from the full range of safe options available in her community. (c) The midwifery model of care emphasizes a commitment to informed choice, continuity of individualized care, and sensitivity to the emotional and spiritual aspects of childbearing, and includes monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle; providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support; minimizing technological interventions; and identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention. (d) Numerous studies have associated professional midwifery care with safety, good outcomes, and cost-effectiveness in the United States and in other countries. California studies suggest that low-risk women who choose a natural childbirth approach in an out-of-hospital setting will experience as low a perinatal mortality as low-risk women who choose a hospital birth under management of an obstetrician, including unfavorable results for transfer from the home to the hospital. (e) The midwifery model of care is an important option within comprehensive health care for women and their families and should be a choice made available to all women who are appropriate for and interested in home birth. SEC. 5. No reimbursement is required by this act pursuant to Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution because the only costs that may be incurred by a local agency or school district will be incurred because this act creates a new crime or infraction, eliminates a crime or infraction, or changes the penalty for a crime or infraction, within the meaning of Section 17556 of the Government Code, or changes the definition of a crime within the meaning of Section 6 of Article XIIIB of the California Constitution.