Code Section

2516.  

(a) Each licensed midwife who assists, or supervises a student midwife in assisting, in childbirth that occurs in an out-of-hospital setting shall annually report to the Department of Health Care Access and Information. The report shall be submitted no later than March 30, for the prior calendar year, in a form specified by the board and shall contain all of the following:

(1) The midwife’s name and license number.

(2) The calendar year being reported.

(3) The following information with regard to cases in California in which the midwife, or the student midwife supervised by the midwife, assisted during the previous year when the intended place of birth at the onset of care was an out-of-hospital setting:

(A) The total number of clients served as primary caregiver at the onset of care.

(B) The number by county of live births attended as primary caregiver.

(C) The number, by county, of cases of fetal demise, infant deaths, and maternal deaths attended as primary caregiver at the discovery of the demise or death.

(D) The number of women whose primary care was transferred to another health care practitioner during the antepartum period, and the reason for each transfer.

(E) The number, reason, and outcome for each elective hospital transfer during the intrapartum or postpartum period.

(F) The number, reason, and outcome for each urgent or emergency transport of an expectant mother in the antepartum period.

(G) The number, reason, and outcome for each urgent or emergency transport of an infant or mother during the intrapartum or immediate postpartum period.

(H) The number of planned out-of-hospital births at the onset of labor and the number of births completed in an out-of-hospital setting.

(I) The number of planned out-of-hospital births completed in an out-of-hospital setting that were any of the following:

(i) Twin births.

(ii) Multiple births other than twin births.

(iii) Breech births.

(iv) Vaginal births after the performance of a cesarean section.

(J) A brief description of any complications resulting in the morbidity or mortality of a mother or a neonate.

(K) Any other information prescribed by the board in regulations.

(b) The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall maintain the confidentiality of the information submitted pursuant to this section, and shall not permit any law enforcement or regulatory agency to inspect or have copies made of the contents of any reports submitted pursuant to subdivision (a) for any purpose, including, but not limited to, investigations for licensing, certification, or regulatory purposes.

(c) The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall report to the board, by April 30, those licensees who have met the requirements of subdivision (a) for that year.

(d) The board shall send a written notice of noncompliance to each licensee who fails to meet the reporting requirement of subdivision (a). Failure to comply with subdivision (a) will result in the midwife being unable to renew their license without first submitting the requisite data to the Department of Health Care Access and Information for the year for which that data was missing or incomplete. The board shall not take any other action against the licensee for failure to comply with subdivision (a).

(e) The board, in consultation with the Department of Health Care Access and Information and the Midwifery Advisory Council, shall devise a coding system related to data elements that require coding in order to assist in both effective reporting and the aggregation of data pursuant to subdivision (f). The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall utilize this coding system in its processing of information collected for purposes of subdivision (f).

(f) The Department of Health Care Access and Information shall report the aggregate information collected pursuant to this section to the board by July 30 of each year. The board shall include this information in its annual report to the Legislature.

(g) The board, with input from the Midwifery Advisory Council, may adjust the data elements required to be reported to better coordinate with other reporting systems, including the reporting system of the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), while maintaining the data elements unique to California. To better capture data needed for the report required by this section, the concurrent use of systems, including MANA’s, by licensed midwives is encouraged.

(h) Notwithstanding any other law, a violation of this section shall not be a crime.