SENATE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION No. 14

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

PRE-FILED FOR INTRODUCTION IN THE 1996 SESSION

By Senators BUBBA and INVERSO

A Concurrent Resolution memorializing the United States Congress to adopt pending legislation concerning the provision of at least a 48-hour stay in the hospital after childbirth.

Whereas, Increasingly, insurers are refusing payment for hospital stays beyond 24 hours after an uncomplicated delivery; and

Whereas, Women need more than 24 hours to recuperate from giving birth and to learn how to breast-feed and care for their babies under the protected and controlled environment of a hospital; and

Whereas, A mother discharged early from the hospital, for example, may not know how to breast-feed properly. A baby who is not receiving enough to eat may become dehydrated, which in severe cases may cause a stroke; and

Whereas, A first-time mother, especially, may not recognize the symptoms of jaundice early, which is potentially very serious since severe jaundice can lead to irreversible brain damage; and

Whereas, There is also concern about the impact of early discharge on state-mandated tests for disorders like phenylketonuria which can cause mental retardation, the tests for which are done before discharge, and are most accurate more than 24 hours after the baby's first feeding. By then many babies have gone home, necessitating a second test; and

Whereas, New Jersey, Maryland and North Carolina have enacted laws to insure that mothers and newborns have at least 48 hours in the hospital after childbirth and many other states have pending legislation to require this length of stay; and

Whereas, The American Academy of Pediatrics recently released new guidelines stating that most mothers and infants need to stay in the hospital at least 48 hours after childbirth and that the timing of the discharge should be decided by the doctor and not by arbitrary policy established by a third party; and

Whereas, Federal legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and House of Representatives which would provide at least a 48-hour stay in the hospital after childbirth, and this legislation has the support of such groups as the American Medical Association, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and the American Academy of Pediatrics; now, therefore,

    Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey (the General Assembly concurring):

    1. The Legislature of the State of New Jersey memorializes the United States Congress to adopt pending legislation in the Senate and the House of Representatives which provides mothers and their newborns with at least 48-hour hospital stays after childbirth.

    2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the General Assembly and attested by the Secretary of the Senate and the Clerk of the General Assembly, shall be transmitted to the presiding officers of the Senate and the House of Representatives and to each member of the Senate and House of Representatives elected from this State.

Memorializes Congress to pass pending legislation to permit women and newborns at least a 48-hour stay in the hospital after delivery.