New Hampshire SB 182: relative to the maternal mortality review panel.

Bill Text

SB 182 - AS INTRODUCED

2025 SESSION

 25-1108

 05/09

SENATE BILL 182

AN ACT relative to the maternal mortality review committee. 

SPONSORS: Sen. Prentiss, Dist 5; Sen. Fenton, Dist 10; Sen. Rosenwald, Dist 13; Sen. Perkins Kwoka, Dist 21; Sen. Altschiller, Dist 24; Rep. Hakken-Phillips, Graf. 12; Rep. Kuttab, Rock. 17

COMMITTEE: Executive Departments and Administration

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ANALYSIS

 This bill renames the maternal mortality review panel as the maternal mortality review committee, revises its membership, and provides for the committee to be administered by the department of health and human services and facilitated by the New Hampshire perinatal quality collaborative (NHPQC) affiliated with Dartmouth Health. The bill also revises the definition of "pregnancy-related death" by removing the exclusion of accidental or incidental causes.

 The bill is a request of the department of health and human services.

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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 Matter which is either (a) all new or (b) repealed and reenacted appears in regular type.

 25-1108

 05/09

STATE OF NEW HAMPSHIRE

In the Year of Our Lord Two Thousand Twenty Five

AN ACT relative to the maternal mortality review committee. 

Be it Enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court convened:

 1 Public Health; Maternal Mortality Review Committee. Amend the subdivision heading preceding RSA 132:29 to read as follows:

Maternal Mortality Review [Panel] Committee

 2 Public Health; Maternal Mortality Review Committee; Definitions. Amend RSA 132:29, I to read as follows: 

 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]. 

 3 Public Health; Maternal Mortality Review Committee Established. Amend RSA 132:30 to read as follows:

 132:30 Maternal Mortality Review [Panel] Committee Established. 

 I. There is established a maternal mortality review [panel] committee 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 committee shall be administered by the department of health and human services and facilitated jointly with the New Hampshire perinatal quality collaborative (NHPQC) affiliated with Dartmouth Health. The [panel] committee 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 section of the Association for Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses. 

 (e) The administrator of maternal and child health who also is the Title V director, division of public health services, department of health and human services. 

 (f) An epidemiologist from the department of health and human services with experience analyzing perinatal data, or designee. 

 (g) A representative of the community mental health centers. 

 (h) A public member. 

 (i) The chief medical examiner, or designee. 

 (j) A representative of the division for children, youth and families, appointed by the commissioner of the department of health and human services.

 (k) A representative of the department of corrections, appointed by the commissioner of the department of corrections.

 II. Each member in subparagraphs I(a)-(h) 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 committee chair shall be appointed by the commissioner or designee. [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. The commissioner may delegate to [the Northern New England Perinatal Quality Improvement Network (NNEPQIN)] NHPQC the functions of collecting, analyzing, and disseminating maternal mortality information, organizing and convening meetings of the [panel] committ