Relating to the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns

This bill relates to the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to newborns. The bill requires a birthing hospital or birth center, as defined in the bill, to comply with specific requirements regarding the administration of the hepatitis B vaccine to a newborn. The bill requires that the staff of the birthing hospital or birth center shall offer to the pregnant woman at the time of admission administration of the vaccine to the woman’s newborn, and shall provide the pregnant woman with educational materials regarding the vaccine to help the pregnant woman make an informed decision. The educational materials shall include but are not limited to information that the vaccine is not mandatory at birth, information regarding the vaccine’s safety and the possible side effects and adverse events related to the vaccine, and information regarding how to identify an adverse event and report the adverse event to the national adverse event reporting system. Following the offer to administer the vaccine, the staff shall receive a written refusal or consent from the pregnant woman, and shall retain a copy of the written refusal or consent in the newborn’s medical record. If written consent is obtained, the vaccine shall be administered in accordance with the recommendations of the centers for disease control and prevention of the United States department of health and human services. If a newborn is delivered in a location other than a birthing hospital or a birth center, the physician or other health care professional who undertakes the care of the newborn shall comply with the requirements of the bill.