STATE OF NEW JERSEY
PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 2006 SESSION
Senator DIANE B. ALLEN
District 7 (Burlington and Camden)
Senator RICHARD J. CODEY
District 27 (Essex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senators Madden and Singer
���� Requires certain health care professionals to provide information and screening for� postpartum depression.
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
���� Introduced Pending Technical Review by Legislative Counsel
An Act concerning postpartum depression and amending P.L.2000, c.167.
���� Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:
���� 1.� Section 2 of P.L.2000, c.167 (C.26:2-176) is amended to read as follows:
���� 2.��� The Commissioner of Health and Senior Services, in conjunction with the State Board of Medical Examiners and the New Jersey Board of Nursing, shall work with health care facilities and licensed health care professionals in the State to develop policies and procedures [ which meet the following objectives that address the issue of postpartum depression ] to achieve the following requirements concerning postpartum depression:
���� a.���� Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health care professionals providing prenatal care to women [ should ] shall provide education to women and their families about postpartum depression in order to lower the likelihood that new mothers will continue to suffer from this illness in silence;
���� b.��� All birthing facilities in the State [ should ] shall provide departing new mothers and fathers and other family members, as appropriate, with complete information about postpartum depression, including its symptoms, methods of coping with the illness and treatment resources;
���� c.���� Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health care professionals providing postnatal care to women [ should ] shall screen new mothers for postpartum depression symptoms prior to discharge from the birthing facility and at the first few postnatal check-up visits; and
���� d.��� Physicians, nurse midwives and other licensed health care professionals providing prenatal and postnatal care to women [ should ] shall include fathers and other family members, as appropriate, in both the education and treatment processes to help them better understand the nature and causes of postpartum depression so that they too can overcome the spillover effects of the illness and improve their ability to be supportive of the new mother.
(cf: P.L.2000, c.167, s.2)
���� 2.� This act shall take effect on the 180th day after enactment, except that the Commissioner of Health and Senior Services shall take such anticipatory administrative action in advance as shall be necessary for its implementation.
���� This bill requires licensed health care professionals providing prenatal care to educate women and their families about postpartum depression, and licensed health care professionals providing postnatal care to screen new mothers for the disorder. Under current law, licensed health care professionals are encouraged, but not required, to provide these services.
���� Eighty percent of women experience some level of the baby blues after giving birth.� These symptoms usually begin one to two days after giving birth and last for about two weeks. However, one in eight women experiences a more serious condition known as postpartum depression. This translates into approximately 11,000 to 16,000 women in New Jersey each year.
���� By requiring health care professionals to provide information and screening for postpartum depression, this bill increases the likelihood that new mothers with the disorder will get appropriate treatment and will be able to overcome its effects.