2023 Regular Session ENROLLED
SENATE CONCURRENT RESOL UTION NO. 20
BY SENATOR CARTER AND REPRESENTATIVES BOYD, WILFORD CARTER,
COX, DEVILLIER, EMERSON, FISHER, GAINES, GLOVER,
GREEN, HUGHES, JEFFERSON, JENKINS, TRAVIS JOHNSON,
KNOX, LAFLEUR, LARVADAIN, LYONS, MARCELLE, DUSTIN
MILLER, MOORE, NEWELL, PHELPS, PIERRE, SCHLEGEL,
SELDERS, STAGNI AND WILLARD
A CONCURRENT RESOL UTION
To urge and request the Louisiana State Nurses Association to convene a Nursing Maternal
Mortality and Preterm Births Task Force.
WHEREAS, Louisiana has one of the highest incidences of maternal mortality and
preterm births in the nation; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana has limited obstetric health care in rural areas, which lack
maternity care resources, where there may be no hospitals or birth centers offering obstetric
care, and no obstetric providers; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's maternal mortality rate of over fifty-eight deaths per one
hundred thousand births is the highest in the United States with sixty-eight percent of
maternal deaths deemed preventable; and
WHEREAS, in 2020, there were seven thousand three hundred eighty-six preterm
births in Louisiana, representing almost thirteen percent of live births or one in eight babies
born in Louisiana; and
WHEREAS, over thirty percent of Louisiana is considered a maternity desert with
little to no access to maternal care, affecting over two million women in Louisiana of
childbearing age and almost one hundred fifty thousand Louisiana babies; and
WHEREAS, Louisiana's maternal mortality rates are four times higher for black
women, with fifty-nine percent of black maternal deaths deemed preventable while nine
percent of white maternal deaths were deemed preventable; and
WHEREAS, the role of the registered nurse includes fetal monitoring, helping to
manage pregnancy complications, assisting with cesarean deliveries, and caring for the
neonate and all preterm infants; and
WHEREAS, registered nurses are aware of the potential implications that disease,
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physical and psychosocial trauma, and medical treatment can have on women of
childbearing age and on the health of a fetus or newborn; and
WHEREAS, the nursing profession continues to secure the highest assessment of
ethics and honesty, with the American public rating nurses the highest among a host of
professionals, including medical doctors, pharmacists, and high school teachers; and
WHEREAS, nursing is the nation's largest healthcare profession, with over four
million registered nurses nationwide; and
WHEREAS, nurse midwives are healthcare professionals who provide an array of
healthcare services for women including gynecological examinations, contraceptive
counseling, prescriptions, and labor and delivery care; and
WHEREAS, nurse midwives provide expert care during labor, delivery, and even
after birth, a specialty that makes them unique; and
WHEREAS, nurse midwives often function as both a quality and economical option
for birthing care; and
WHEREAS, according to the American College of Nurse-Midwives, the benefits of
receiving midwifery care include: decreased risk of needing a cesarean procedure, reduced
rates of labor induction and augmentation, reduced use of regional anesthesia, decreased
infant mortality rates, decreased risk of preterm birth, lower costs for both clients and
insurers, increased chances of having a positive start to breastfeeding, and increased
satisfaction with the quality of care; and
WHEREAS, the legislature finds that maternal death rates and preterm birth rates are
an important public health issue in Louisiana and maternal death rates and preterm birth
rates are a growing concern at the national level.
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Legislature of Louisiana does hereby
urge and request the Louisiana State Nurses Association to create the Nursing Maternal
Mortality and Preterm Birth Task Force.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be charged with providing
the secretary of the Louisiana Department of Health with recommendations regarding
nursing involvement in improving maternal outcomes and the development and
implementation of maternal mortality and preterm birth initiatives throughout the state of
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Louisiana.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall be composed of the
following members:
(1) One Senate member appointed by the chairman of the Senate Committee on
Health and Welfare.
(2) One House member appointed by the chairman of the House Committee on
Health and Welfare.
(3) The executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Nursing or his designee.
(4) The president of the Louisiana State Nurses Association or his designee.
(5) The president of the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners or his designee.
(6) The chairman of the Louisiana Organization for Nursing Leadership or his
designee.
(7) The president of the Louisiana Hospital Association or his designee.
(8) The chairman of the Nursing Supply and Demand Council or his designee.
(9) The executive director of the Louisiana State Board of Licensed Practical Nurse
Examiners or his designee.
(10) The medical director of the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and
Pregnancy Associated Mortality Review or his designee.
(11) The president of the Louisiana affiliate of the American College of Nurse
Midwives or his designee.
(12) The president of the Louisiana section of the Association of Women's Health,
Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses or his designee.
(13) The dean of the School of Nursing of the Louisiana State University Health
Sciences Center at New Orleans or his designee.
(14) The dean of the School of Public Health of the Louisiana State University
Health Sciences Center at New Orleans or his designee.
(15) The dean of the Southern University School of Nursing or his designee.
(16) An LCMC Health neonatology nurse practitioner appointed by the neonatology
medical director.
(17) The LCMC Health neonatology medical director or his designee.
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(18) An Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans neonatology nurse practitioner
appointed by the neonatology medical director.
(19) The Ochsner Medical Center in New Orleans neonatology medical director or
his designee.
(20) The dean of the College of Nursing and Health of Loyola University or
his designee.
(21) The president of the Louisiana State Medical Society or his designee.
(22) The president of DePaul Community Health Centers of New Orleans or
his designee.
(23) The chief nursing officer of Woman's Hospital or his designee.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall convene its first meeting no
later than September 1, 2023. At the first meeting, the members of the task force shall elect
a chairman and vice chairman and other officers as they deem appropriate.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the members of the task force shall not be
compensated for their services on the task force but may seek travel reimbursement from
their respective agencies under their respective guidelines.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that meetings of the task force shall be subject to the
Open Meetings Law, R.S. 42:11 et. seq., and records of the task force shall be subject to the
Public Records Law, R.S. 44:1 et. seq.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the task force shall submit recommendations to
the Senate and House committees on health and welfare that include all of the following:
(1) Identifying how to increase the number of practicing certified nurse midwives in
Louisiana.
(2) Identifying how registered nurses and advanced practice registered nurses can
contribute to positive maternal outcomes.
(3) Addressing the integration of midwifery services into current healthcare practices
by identifying barriers and developing guidelines to remove obstacles to care.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the report shall be provided to the Senate
Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the
president of the Senate, and the speaker of the House of Representatives no later than
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forty-five days prior to the convening of the 2024 Regular Session, and the task force shall
terminate after such submissions.
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to the
Senate Committee on Health and Welfare, the House Committee on Health and Welfare, the
Louisiana Department of Health, the Louisiana State Board of Nursing, the Louisiana State
Nurses Association, the Louisiana Association of Nurse Practitioners, the Louisiana
Organization for Nursing Leadership, the Louisiana Hospital Association, the Nursing
Supply and Demand Council, the Louisiana State Board of Licensed Practical Nurse
Examiners, the Louisiana Perinatal Quality Collaborative and Pregnancy Associated
Mortality Review, the Louisiana affiliate of the American College of Nurse Midwives, the
Louisiana section of the Association of Women's Health, Obstetrics, and Neonatal Nurses,
the School of Nursing of the Louisiana State University Health and Sciences Center at New
Orleans, the School of Public Health of the Louisiana State University Health and Sciences
Center at New Orleans, the Southern University School of Nursing, LCMC Health, Woman's
Hospital, Ochsner Medical Center, the College of Nursing and Health of Loyola University,
the DePaul Community Health Centers of New Orleans, and the Louisiana State Medical
Society.
PRESIDENT OF THE SENATE
SPEAKER OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
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