A bill designed to evaluate the effectiveness of New Jersey’s maternal and prenatal services by surveying and analyzing the state’s prenatal and antenatal care clinics, sponsored by Assembly Democrats Herb Conaway, Jr., MD (D-Burlington), Valerie Vainieri Huttle (D-Bergen) and Carol Murphy (D-Burlington), was approved 80-0-0 by the full Assembly Monday.
The bill (A-4967) would require the Department of Health to collect the survey data from all prenatal care clinics in the state, including prenatal care clinics that have closed or substantially ceased operations of it beds, facilities, or services within a two-year period of the bill becoming effective. It defines a prenatal care clinic as an inpatient or ambulatory health care facility licensed by the Department of Health that provides maternity and prenatal care services.
The sponsors released the following joint statement regarding the measure:
“This survey is the next phase of our recently introduced maternal health package and is part of a comprehensive effort to improve prenatal and maternal health outcomes in New Jersey. Analyzing the data from these surveys will help policy makers develop clinical services, educational programs and evidence-based solutions to combat disparities in the state that exist in maternal and prenatal care.”