By:  Lucio                                                        S.B. No. 316


A BILL TO BE ENTITLED

AN ACT

relating to information provided to parents of newborn children.              
	BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF TEXAS:                        
	SECTION 1.  Subchapter R, Chapter 161, Health and Safety 
Code, as added by Chapter 1011, Acts of the 78th Legislature, 
Regular Session, 2003, is redesignated as Subchapter T, Chapter 
161, Health and Safety Code, and amended to read as follows:
	SUBCHAPTER T [R].  [PARENTING AND POSTPARTUM COUNSELING] 
INFORMATION FOR PARENTS OF NEWBORN CHILDREN
	Sec. 161.501 [161.451].  RESOURCE PAMPHLET [LIST].  (a)  A 
hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife, or midwife who 
provides prenatal care to a pregnant woman during gestation or at 
delivery of an infant shall:
		(1)  provide the woman and the father of the infant, if 
possible, or another adult caregiver for the infant, with a 
resource pamphlet that includes:
			(A)  a list of the names, addresses, and phone 
numbers of professional organizations that provide postpartum 
counseling and assistance to parents relating to postpartum 
depression and other emotional trauma associated with pregnancy and 
parenting;
			(B)  information regarding the prevention of 
shaken baby syndrome including:
				(i)  techniques for coping with anger caused 
by a crying baby;     
				(ii)  different methods for preventing a 
person from shaking a newborn, infant, or other young child;
				(iii)  the dangerous effects of shaking a 
newborn, infant, or other young child; and
				(iv)  the symptoms of shaken baby syndrome 
and who to contact, as recommended by the American Academy of 
Pediatrics, if a parent suspects or knows that a baby has been 
shaken in order to receive prompt medical treatment;
			(C)  a list of diseases for which a child is 
required by state law to be immunized and the appropriate schedule 
for the administration of those immunizations; and
			(D)  the appropriate schedule for follow-up 
procedures for newborn screening;
		(2)  document in the woman's [patient's] record that 
the woman [patient] received the information described in 
Subdivision (1); and
		(3)  retain the documentation for at least five [three] 
years in the hospital's, birthing center's, physician's, nurse 
midwife's, or midwife's records.
	(b)  A hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife, 
or midwife may use the pamphlet provided on the department's 
website or an alternative pamphlet that provides the information 
required by this section [The list must include resources a parent 
may contact to receive counseling and assistance for postpartum 
depression and other emotional traumas associated with pregnancy 
and parenting].
	[(c)  A hospital, birthing center, physician, nurse midwife, 
or midwife who provides prenatal care to a woman during gestation or 
at delivery is presumed to have complied with this section if the 
woman received prior prenatal care from another hospital, birthing 
center, physician, or midwife in this state during the same 
pregnancy.]
	Sec. 161.502 [161.452].  DUTIES OF DEPARTMENT.  (a)  The 
department shall:
		(1)  establish guidelines for the provision of the 
information required by Section 161.501 [161.451];
		(2)  make available on the department's website a 
printable version of the pamphlet required by Section 161.501 [list 
of professional organizations that provide postpartum counseling 
and assistance to parents]; [and]
		(3)  update the list of resources and required 
immunizations in the pamphlet required under Subdivision (2) 
quarterly; and
		(4)  coordinate funding for the development, 
publication, and distribution of the informational pamphlet with 
other health and human services agencies, and solicit funding for 
the department's duties under this subchapter through means other 
than appropriations, such as gifts, grants, and sales of 
sponsorship or advertising [monthly].
	(b)  The department may include additional information in 
the pamphlet as appropriate for parents of newborns.
	Sec. 161.503.  LIABILITY NOT CREATED.  This subchapter does 
not create civil or criminal liability.
	SECTION 2.  Before publishing or distributing the pamphlet 
required by Section 161.502, Health and Safety Code, as 
redesignated and amended by this Act, the Department of State 
Health Services shall provide the proposed pamphlet to the Texas 
Pediatric Society Committee on Child Abuse for review and comment 
and shall integrate the comments into the final pamphlet.
	SECTION 3.  This Act takes effect September 1, 2005.