Required reporters can provide pregnancy and postpartum care before reporting

Required reporters do not have to report suspected substance or alcohol misuse during pregnancy while they provide or help provide services. This applies to people required to report who learn in their official or professional role that a woman may have misused alcohol or used a controlled substance for a nonmedical purpose during pregnancy. Any person may make a voluntary report. Services include voluntary entry into a licensed treatment program. A report is required if the woman stops regular prenatal care, does not follow treatment advice, or continues the misuse. The exemption applies while services are provided. Reporting is required if one of the listed conditions occurs.

Required reporters do not have to report suspected substance or alcohol misuse after birth while they provide or help provide services. This applies to people required to report who suspect a postpartum woman has misused alcohol or abused a controlled substance. Services may be for the woman or her infant and include voluntary entry into a licensed treatment program. A report is required if the woman stops regular postnatal care, does not cooperate with services for the infant, does not follow treatment advice, or continues the misuse. The exemption applies while services are provided. Reporting is required if one of the listed conditions occurs.

Physicians may test pregnant women, women soon after delivery, and newborns for possible drug or alcohol exposure, and may report positive results. Testing may involve a pregnant woman, a woman under the physician’s care within eight hours after delivery, or a newborn at birth or during the first month of life. For a pregnant woman or a woman within eight hours after delivery, testing requires pregnancy-related complications that may indicate misuse; the woman must consent unless a specimen is otherwise available. A physician may test a newborn without parental or guardian consent when a medical assessment gives reason to believe the mother used a controlled substance for a nonmedical purpose or misused alcohol during pregnancy. A negative test or refusal does not remove a reporting duty when other evidence supports a report. Medical staff have liability protection for testing in good faith under an established protocol and reasonable medical practice, or for deciding in good faith not to test. The provisions cover women within eight hours after delivery and newborns at birth or during the first month of life.