Revision: Dec. 10, 2009, midnight
HB 1553 – AS INTRODUCED
2010 SESSION
01/10
HOUSE BILL 1553
AN ACT establishing a maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in New Hampshire.
SPONSORS: Rep. Houde-Quimby, Sull 1; Rep. Harding, Graf 11; Rep. Rosenwald, Hills 22; Rep. Irwin, Hills 3; Sen. Houde, Dist 5; Sen. Sgambati, Dist 4; Sen. Gilmour, Dist 12; Sen. D'Allesandro, Dist 20; Sen. Carson, Dist 14
COMMITTEE: Health, Human Services and Elderly Affairs
This bill establishes a maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in New Hampshire.
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Explanation: Matter added to current law appears in bold italics.
Matter removed from current law appears [in brackets and struckthrough.]
Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.
10-2188
01/10
STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE
In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Ten
AN ACT establishing a maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in New Hampshire.
Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:
1 Statement of Intent. The general court recognizes the importance of identifying factors associated with maternal deaths and that there is a need for a process to study the causes of maternal deaths. Therefore, the general court hereby establishes a maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive reviews of such deaths and to make recommendations for system changes to improve services for women in the state.
2 New Subdivision; Maternal Mortality Review Panel. Amend RSA 132 by inserting after section 28 the following new subdivision:
Maternal Mortality Review Panel
132:29 Definitions. In this subdivision:
I. “Pregnancy-related” means the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy, irrespective of the duration and site of the pregnancy, from any cause related to or aggravated by her pregnancy or its management, but not from accidental or incidental causes.
II. “Pregnancy-associated death” means the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy, irrespective of cause.
III. “Pregnancy-associated, but not pregnancy-related” means the death of a woman while pregnant or within one year of the end of pregnancy due to a cause unrelated to pregnancy.
132:30 Maternal Mortality Review Panel Established.
I. There is established a maternal mortality review panel to conduct comprehensive, multidisciplinary reviews of maternal deaths in New Hampshire for the purpose of identifying factors associated with the deaths and to make recommendations for system changes to improve services for women in the state. The panel shall consist of:
(a) Two members from the New Hampshire chapter of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, one of whom shall be a generalist obstetrician, and one of whom shall be a maternal fetal medicine specialist.
(b) One member from the New Hampshire chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics, specializing in neonatology.
(c) One member from the New Hampshire chapter of the American College of Nurse-Midwives.
(d) One member from the New Hampshire chapter of the Association for Women’s Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.
(e) One member of the College of American Pathologists, practicing in New Hampshire.
(f) The commissioner of the department of health and human services, or designee.
(g) An epidemiologist from the department of health and human services with experience analyzing perinatal data.
II. Each member shall be appointed by the commissioner of health and human services, or designee, in collaboration with the organizations listed in paragraph I.
III. The term of each member shall be 3 years and the terms shall be staggered. The chair shall be appointed by the commissioner. The Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN) shall provide personnel to staff the panel and shall be responsible for the dissemination of the findings of the panel. The initially appointed chair shall call the meeting and panel together and shall serve as chair for 6 months, after which time, the panel shall elect its chair. Members of the panel shall receive no compensation.
IV.(a) The panel, in collaboration with the commissioner of the department of health and human services, or his or her designee, shall:
(1) Conduct comprehensive multidisciplinary reviews of the following maternal deaths in New Hampshire:
(A) Pregnancy-related.
(B) Pregnancy-associated.
(C) Pregnancy-associated, but not pregnancy-related.
(2) Make a report to NNEPQIN, the speaker of the house of representatives, the president of the senate, the governor, the oversight committee on health and human services, and the commissioner of the department of health and human services on or before November 1 of each year with recommendations for system changes based on the reviews of case findings.
(b) NNEPQIN, working in cooperation with the commissioner of the department of health and human services or his or her designee, shall:
(1) Establish a system for obstetrical care providers to identify and report maternal deaths to the chair of the panel.
(2) Establish procedures for collecting medical records from institutions and other providers of medical care that encompass the beginning of pregnancy through the maternal death and any autopsy or pathology results, to be submitted to the chair of the panel.
(3) Provide statistical analysis of trends and factors associated with the maternal death.
(4) Promote public awareness of the incidence and causes of maternal fatalities, including recommendations for their reduction.
(c) The panel shall not:
(1) Call witnesses or take testimony from individuals involved in the investigation of a maternal death.
(2) Contact a family member of the deceased mother, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death and must contact a family member in the course of performing his or her duties outside the team.
(3) Enforce any public health standard or criminal law or otherwise participate in any legal proceeding, except if a member of the team is involved in the investigation of the death or resulting prosecution and must participate in a legal proceeding in the course of performing in his or her duties outside the team.
(d) Proceedings, records, and opinions of the maternal mortality review panel are confidential, not subject to RSA 91-A, and not subject to discovery, subpoena, or introduction into evidence in any civil or criminal proceeding. Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to limit or restrict the right to discover or use in any civil or criminal proceeding anything that is available from another source and entirely independent of the proceedings of the panel.
(e) Members of the panel shall not be questioned in any civil or criminal proceeding regarding information presented in or opinions formed as a result of a meeting of the team. Nothing in this subparagraph shall be construed to prevent a member of the panel from testifying to information obtained independently of the team or which is public information.
3 Effective Date. This act shall take effect 60 days after its passage.