Bill > HB90

This bill creates a comprehensive framework for establishing and regulating freestanding birthing centers in Kentucky, while also addressing several related maternal health and healthcare provisions. The bill defines a freestanding birthing center as a health facility outside of a hospital that provides care for labor, delivery, and immediate postpartum services, and requires the state health cabinet to establish licensure standards for such centers. These standards include requiring accreditation by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers, mandating medical malpractice insurance, ensuring the center is located within 30 miles of a hospital, and establishing requirements for a medical director who will oversee quality review functions. The bill also requires birthing centers to obtain written informed consent from clients, detailing benefits, risks, provider credentials, and emergency protocols, and to have written patient transfer agreements with hospitals and emergency medical services. Additionally, the bill prohibits abortions in freestanding birthing centers and includes provisions for perinatal palliative care programs to support families facing challenging pregnancies. The legislation amends multiple existing Kentucky statutes to incorporate these new definitions and requirements, and is named the Mary Carol Akers Birth Centers Act, with an emergency clause emphasizing the importance of maternal health services.

Labor and Employment

https://apps.legislature.ky.gov/record/25RS/hb90.html