Prenatal testing program: education.

Existing law imposes various responsibilities upon the State Department of Public Health and prenatal care providers with respect to prenatal care, screening, and counseling. Existing law requires the department to develop an education program designed to educate physicians and surgeons and the public concerning the uses of prenatal testing and the availability of the prenatal testing program. This bill would require the department to include prescribed information regarding environmental health in the California Prenatal Screening Program patient educational information, and to post that environmental health information on the department's Internet Web site. This bill would require the department to send a notice to all distributors of the patient educational information that informs them of the change to that information, and encourages obstetrician-gynecologists and midwives to discuss environmental health with their patients.