Public Act 0469 95TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

SB0015 Enrolled LRB095 08183 KBJ 28349 b

Public Act 095-0469

AN ACT concerning public health.

Be it enacted by the People of the State of Illinois, represented in the General Assembly:

Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the Perinatal Mental Health Disorders Prevention and Treatment Act.

Section 5. Findings and purposes.

(a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:

(1) Perinatal mental health disorders, commonly referred to as "postpartum depression", include a wide range of emotional, psychological, and physiological reactions to childbirth, including feelings of hopelessness, excessive guilt, sustained sadness, inability to feel pleasure, low energy, sleep and appetite disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and thoughts of death or suicide, which challenge the stamina of a woman during pregnancy or after childbirth, and impair her ability to function and care for her child.

(2) Every year, more than 500,000 women experience the anxiety, hopelessness, desolation, and fatigue of perinatal mental health disorders during pregnancy, in the early postpartum months, and into their child's first year of life.

(3) Women at highest risk for perinatal mental health disorders can be those with previous mental health disorders, such as depression, anxiety or panic disorder, and those with a family member with a history of such mental health disorders. However, perinatal mental health disorders frequently strike without warning in women without any past mental health disorders and with or without any complications in pregnancy.

(4) Many women suffering from perinatal mental health disorders require counseling and treatment, yet many do not realize that they need help or are unable to find and secure appropriate resources.

(5) In addition to the mother, the effects of perinatal mental health disorders can also significantly impact the infant, as well as the father, other children, and extended family members. Perinatal mental health disorders can affect the mother's ability to respond sensitively to her infant's needs and can strain the family relationships.

(b) The purpose of this Act is:

(1) to provide information to women and their families about perinatal mental health disorders in order to lower the likelihood that new mothers will continue to suffer from this illness in silence;

(2) to develop procedures for assessing women for perinatal mental health disorders during prenatal and postnatal visits to licensed health care professionals; and

(3) to promote early detection of perinatal mental health disorders to promote early care and treatment and, when medically appropriate, to avoid medication.

Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:

"Hospital" has the meaning given to that term in the Hospital Licensing Act.

"Licensed health care professional" means a physician licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, an advanced practice nurse who has a collaborative agreement with a collaborating physician that authorizes care, or a physician's assistant who has been delegated authority to provide care.

"Postnatal care" means an office visit to a licensed health care professional occurring after birth, with reference to the infant or mother.

"Prenatal care" means an office visit to a licensed health care professional for pregnancy-related care occurring before birth.

"Questionnaire" means an assessment tool administered by a licensed health care professional to detect perinatal mental health disorders, such as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression Scale, the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale, the Beck Depression Inventory, the Patient Health Questionnaire, or other validated assessment methods.

Section 15. Perinatal mental health disorders prevention and treatment. The Department of Human Services, in conjunction with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the Department of Public Health, and the Department of Financial and Professional Regulation and the Medical Licensing Board, shall work with hospitals and licensed health care professionals in this State to develop policies, procedures, information, and educational materials to meet each of the following requirements concerning perinatal mental health disorders:

(1) Licensed health care professionals providing prenatal care to women shall provide education to women and, if possible and with permission, to their families about perinatal mental health disorders in accordance with the formal opinions and recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

(2) All hospitals that provide labor and delivery services in the State shall provide new mothers, prior to discharge following childbirth, and, if possible, shall provide fathers and other family members with complete information about perinatal mental health disorders, including its symptoms, methods of coping with the illness, and treatment resources. The Department of Human Services shall provide written information that hospitals may use to satisfy this subsection (2).

(3) Licensed health care professionals providing prenatal care at a prenatal visit shall invite each pregnant patient to complete a questionnaire and shall review the completed questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Assessment for perinatal mental health disorders must be repeated when, in the professional judgment of the licensed health care professional, a reasonable possibility exists that the woman suffers from perinatal mental health disorders.

(4) Licensed health care professionals providing postnatal care to women shall invite each patient to complete a questionnaire and shall review the completed questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

(5) Licensed health care professionals providing pediatric care to an infant shall invite the infant's mother to complete a questionnaire at any well-baby check-up at which the mother is present prior to the infant's first birthday, and shall review the completed questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, in order to ensure that the health and well-being of the infant are not compromised by an undiagnosed perinatal mental health disorder in the mother. In order to share results from an assessment with the mother's primary licensed health care professional, consent should be obtained from the mother in accordance with the Illinois Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act. If the mother is determined to present an acute danger to herself or someone else, consent is not required.

Effective Date: 1/1/2008