(a) The California Pregnancy-Associated Review Committee is hereby established under the State Department of Public Health to continuously engage in the comprehensive, regular, and uniform review and reporting of maternal deaths throughout the state. The department, in collaboration with the designated state perinatal quality collaborative, shall oversee the committee. The committee may incorporate the membership of the California Pregnancy-Associated Mortality Review Committee, as it existed on December 31, 2021. (b) The purposes of the committee include, but are not limited to, all of the following: (1) Identifying and reviewing all pregnancy-related deaths, including the cause, contributing factors, and disseminating findings. (2) Analyzing common indicators of severe maternal morbidity to identify prevention opportunities and reduce near-miss experiences. (3) Making recommendations on best practices to prevent maternal mortality and morbidity, including, but not limited to, addressing socioeconomic impacts, as well as various environmental impacts, including global warming, on pregnancy outcomes. (4) Examining racial disparities and making recommendations on the prevention of racial disparities. (5) Tracking and examining disparities experienced by lesbian, bisexual, transgender, intersex, and gender-nonconforming individuals and reporting findings, to the extent possible. (6) Collecting and reviewing data from maternal death investigations and making recommendations about how to improve or streamline data collection and investigatory processes. (c) (1) In addition to reviewing medical records, death certificates, and other pertinent reports, committee review of maternal deaths shall include, to the degree practicable, for populations experiencing disparity, voluntary interview with the following individuals: (A) Pertinent surviving family members or support people present with direct knowledge of, or involvement in, the event, including the patient in cases of severe maternal morbidity. The committee shall transcribe or summarize in writing any oral statements received pursuant to this paragraph. (B) Members of the medical team who were present or involved in the deceased individualâs direct care. (2) In determining the practicality of the interviews pursuant to subparagraphs (A) and (B), the committee may prioritize interviews with populations that have a documented higher rate of maternal death. (d) The committee shall publish its findings to the public every three years as part of the publication of data on severe maternal morbidity, as required pursuant to Section 123630.4. The committeeâs findings shall also include recommendations on how to prevent severe maternal morbidity and maternal mortality and how to reduce racial disparities. (e) (1) The committee shall be composed of a minimum of 13 members. The members shall be comprised of multidisciplinary personnel and experts in the field of maternal mortality and morbidity, data analysis in maternal and fetal health, womenâs health, clinicians in maternal health, anesthesiology, pathology, and perinatology, and representatives from various public health entities, and shall include all of the following: (A) At least one obstetrician. (B) At least one certified nurse-midwife. (C) At least one certified professional midwife. (D) At least one hospital-based registered nurse or advanced practice nurse experienced in perinatal health. (E) A clinician or patient advocate from a birthing center, if not already represented by a member otherwise listed. (F) At least one public member with relevant personal experience related to maternal morbidity or maternal mortality who has experienced birth and does not fit in another classification. (G) At least one doula. (H) At least one person from a community-based organization that works in perinatal health. (I) At least one person from an organization that works with populations that have disproportionately high occurrences of m
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