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Committee advances bill requiring Department of Health to provide postpartum warning-sign materials to new mothers
Summary
House Bill 572 would require the Tennessee Department of Health to publish maternal-health education materials and distribute them to hospitals and birthing centers so mothers and caregivers receive critical postpartum warning signs before discharge.
The House Health Full Committee advanced House Bill 572, which requires the Tennessee Department of Health to publish essential maternal-health education materials and make them available to hospitals, birthing centers and new parents before discharge.
Sponsor Representative Hemmer said the bill responds to the state’s maternal mortality review data and March of Dimes recommendations, noting that “learning the warning signs of health care complications saves lives.” She told the committee Tennessee recorded 55 pregnancy-related deaths in 2022 and that 76 percent of those deaths were preventable.
The materials the bill requires would summarize life-threatening postpartum conditions such as cardiovascular complications, postpartum preeclampsia, blood clots, postpartum hemorrhage and postpartum depression. The department would publish the materials on its website and provide them to hospitals and birthing centers for distribution to mothers and families before discharge.
There was no extended debate recorded in committee; the clerk recorded 16 ayes. The bill moves on to calendar and rules.
