HB322ENGROSSED
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HB322
4UUWCRR-2
By Representatives Holk-Jones, Lee, Givan, Sellers, Shaver,
DuBose
RFD: Health
First Read: 20-Feb-25
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First Read: 20-Feb-25
A BILL
TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT
Relating to postpartum depression; to add Section
22-20-3.3 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to provide for
educational materials concerning postpartum depression; and to
add Section 22-20-3.4 to the Code of Alabama 1975, to require
assessment for postpartum depression as a part of postnatal
care.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:
Section 1. Sections 22-20-3.3 and 22-20-3.4 are added
to the Code of Alabama 1975, to read as follows:
§22-20-3.3
(a)(1) The Alabama Department of Public Health shall
publish written materials to share with health care
professionals and to educate parents about postpartum
depression.
(2) The materials shall include information from
credible sources on the signs and symptoms of postpartum
depression and when to seek help.
(3) The Alabama Department of Public Health shall
periodically review the materials to determine their
effectiveness and ensure that they contain current and
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effectiveness and ensure that they contain current and
accurate information.
(b) The Alabama Department of Public Health shall post
the materials on its website and make the materials available
in printed form for distribution to health care professionals
and hospitals.
(c) Hospitals may provide the materials developed under
this section to parents or family members of a newborn upon
discharge.
(d) Hospitals as defined in Section 22-21-20,
physicians, or health care professionals licensed under
Chapter 24 of Title 34 or Article 5 of Chapter 21 of Title 34,
shall not have legal liability or responsibility for claims
resulting from providing, or failing to provide, the
information and materials on maternal mental health
conditions, including postpartum depression, developed
pursuant to this section.
§22-20-3.4
(a) A physician or other health care professional
licensed under Chapter 24 of Title 34 or Article 5 of Chapter
21 of Title 34, when rendering postnatal or pediatric infant
care, shall assess a birth mother for postpartum depression.
(b) A physician or other health care professional
licensed under Chapter 24 of Title 34 or Article 5 of Chapter
21 of Title 34, shall exercise professional judgment in
recommending or not recommending any treatment that he or she
believes is in the best interest of the birth mother.
(c) Nothing in this section shall be construed to
establish a standard of care for physicians or other health
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establish a standard of care for physicians or other health
care professionals licensed under Chapter 24 of Title 34 or
Article 5 of Chapter 21 of Title 34, or otherwise modify,
amend, or supersede any provision of the Alabama Medical
Liability Act of 1987 or the Alabama Medical Liability Act of
1996, or any amendment thereto, or any judicial interpretation
thereof.
Section 2. This act shall become effective on October
1, 2025.
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1, 2025.
House of Representatives
Read for the first time and referred
to the House of Representatives
committee on Health
................20-Feb-25
Read for the second time and placed
on the calendar:
0 amendments
................05-Mar-25
Read for the third time and passed
as amended
Yeas 102
Nays 0
Abstains 0
................18-Mar-25
John Treadwell
Clerk
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