Maternal mental health: bereaved mothers.

Existing law establishes the State Department of Public Health and sets forth its powers and duties, including, but not limited to, implementation and administration of a community‑based system of perinatal care for eligible women and infants. Existing law requires the State Department of Public Health to license and regulate specified health facilities, including a general acute care hospital, a special hospital, and other types of specialized facilities. Existing law defines a perinatal unit as a maternity and newborn service of a hospital for the provision of care during pregnancy, labor, delivery, and postpartum and neonatal periods, as specified. Existing law requires a general acute care hospital or special hospital that has a perinatal unit to develop and implement a program relating to maternal mental health conditions including, but not limited to, postpartum depression. Existing law requires that program to include, among other things, education and information about maternal mental health conditions for women, families, and hospital perinatal unit employees, as specified. This bill would require the education and information program to be available to bereaved mothers. The bill would define a bereaved mother as one who has experienced a miscarriage, stillbirth, or fatal fetal diagnosis. Existing law requires a licensed health care practitioner who provides prenatal or postpartum care for a patient to ensure that the mother is offered screening or is appropriately screened for maternal mental health conditions. This bill would specifically include a bereaved mother as a patient for those purposes.