Sen. Don Harmon

Filed: 5/1/2007

 

 


 

 


 
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1
AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 15

2     AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 15 by replacing
3 everything after the enacting clause with the following:
 
4     "Section 1. Short title. This Act may be cited as the
5 Perinatal Mental Health Disorders Prevention and Treatment
6 Act.
 
7     Section 5. Findings and purposes.
8     (a) The General Assembly finds all of the following:
9         (1) Perinatal mental health disorders, commonly
10     referred to as "postpartum depression", include a wide
11     range of emotional, psychological, and physiological
12     reactions to childbirth, including feelings of
13     hopelessness, excessive guilt, sustained sadness,
14     inability to feel pleasure, low energy, sleep and appetite
15     disturbances, difficulty concentrating, and thoughts of
16     death or suicide, which challenge the stamina of a woman

 

 

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1     during pregnancy or after childbirth, and impair her
2     ability to function and care for her child.
3         (2) Every year, more than 500,000 women experience the
4     anxiety, hopelessness, desolation, and fatigue of
5     perinatal mental health disorders during pregnancy, in the
6     early postpartum months, and into their child's first year
7     of life.
8         (3) Women at highest risk for perinatal mental health
9     disorders can be those with previous mental health
10     disorders, such as depression, anxiety or panic disorder,
11     and those with a family member with a history of such
12     mental health disorders. However, perinatal mental health
13     disorders frequently strike without warning in women
14     without any past mental health disorders and with or
15     without any complications in pregnancy.
16         (4) Many women suffering from perinatal mental health
17     disorders require counseling and treatment, yet many do not
18     realize that they need help or are unable to find and
19     secure appropriate resources.
20         (5) In addition to the mother, the effects of perinatal
21     mental health disorders can also significantly impact the
22     infant, as well as the father, other children, and extended
23     family members. Perinatal mental health disorders can
24     affect the mother's ability to respond sensitively to her
25     infant's needs and can strain the family relationships.
26     (b) The purpose of this Act is:

 

 

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1         (1) to provide information to women and their families
2     about perinatal mental health disorders in order to lower
3     the likelihood that new mothers will continue to suffer
4     from this illness in silence;
5         (2) to develop procedures for assessing women for
6     perinatal mental health disorders during prenatal and
7     postnatal visits to licensed health care professionals;
8     and
9         (3) to promote early detection of perinatal mental
10     health disorders to promote early care and treatment and,
11     when medically appropriate, to avoid medication.
 
12     Section 10. Definitions. In this Act:
13     "Hospital" has the meaning given to that term in the
14 Hospital Licensing Act.
15     "Licensed health care professional" means a physician
16 licensed to practice medicine in all its branches, an advanced
17 practice nurse, or a physician's assistant.
18     "Postnatal care" means a visit to a licensed health care
19 professional occurring after birth, with reference to the
20 infant or mother.
21     "Prenatal care" means a visit to a licensed health care
22 professional for pregnancy-related care occurring before
23 birth.
24     "Questionnaire" means an assessment tool administered by a
25 licensed health care professional to detect perinatal mental

 

 

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1 health disorders, such as the Edinburgh Postnatal Depression
2 Scale, the Postpartum Depression Screening Scale, the Beck
3 Depression Inventory, the Patient Health Questionnaire, or
4 other validated assessment methods.
 
5     Section 15. Perinatal mental health disorders prevention
6 and treatment. The Department of Human Services, in conjunction
7 with the Department of Healthcare and Family Services, the
8 Department of Public Health, and the Department of Financial
9 and Professional Regulation and the Medical Licensing Board,
10 shall work with hospitals and licensed health care
11 professionals in this State to develop policies, procedures,
12 information, and educational materials to meet each of the
13 following requirements concerning perinatal mental health
14 disorders:
15         (1) Licensed health care professionals providing
16     prenatal care to women shall provide education to women
17     and, if possible and with permission, to their families
18     about perinatal mental health disorders.
19         (2) All hospitals that provide labor and delivery
20     services in the State shall provide new mothers, prior to
21     discharge following childbirth, and, if possible and with
22     permission, fathers and other family members, with
23     complete information about perinatal mental health
24     disorders, including its symptoms, methods of coping with
25     the illness, and treatment resources. The Department of

 

 

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1     Human Services shall provide written information that
2     hospitals may use to satisfy this subsection (2).
3         (3) Licensed health care professionals providing
4     prenatal care at a prenatal check-up visit in the third
5     trimester of pregnancy shall invite each pregnant patient
6     to complete a questionnaire and shall review the completed
7     questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and
8     recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians
9     and Gynecologists. Assessment for perinatal mental health
10     disorders must be repeated when, in the professional
11     judgment of the licensed health care professional, a
12     reasonable possibility exists that the woman suffers from
13     perinatal mental health disorders.
14         (4) Licensed health care professionals providing
15     postnatal care to women shall invite each patient to
16     complete a questionnaire and shall review the completed
17     questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and
18     recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians
19     and Gynecologists.
20         (5) Licensed health care professionals providing
21     pediatric care to an infant shall invite the infant's
22     mother to complete a questionnaire at any well-baby
23     check-up at which the mother is present prior to the
24     infant's first birthday, and shall review the completed
25     questionnaire in accordance with the formal opinions and
26     recommendations of the American College of Obstetricians

 

 

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1     and Gynecologists, in order to ensure that the health and
2     well-being of the infant are not compromised by an
3     undiagnosed perinatal mental health disorder in the
4     mother. In order to share results from an assessment with
5     the mother's primary licensed health care professional,
6     consent should be obtained from the mother in accordance
7     with the Illinois Health Insurance Portability and
8     Accountability Act. If the mother is determined to present
9     an acute danger to herself or someone else, consent is not
10     required.".