OBSTETRICS, REQUIRED TESTSPhysicians attending pregnant women are required to take specimens for standard syphilis and gonorrhea tests at the time of the first examination or within ten days thereof. If the physician attending the woman determines The Health Commissioner may waive these requirements if he is satisfied by written proof that the required tests are contrary to the tenets or practices of the religious creed of which the person is an adherent, and that the public health and welfare would not be injuriously affected by such waiver. ORC § 3701.50 "In reporting every birth and fetal death, physicians and others required to make the reports shall state on the birth or fetal death certificate, as the case may be, whether approved tests for syphilis and gonorrhea have been made in an approved laboratory upon specimens taken from the woman who bore the child for which the certificate is filed, and the approximate date when the specimens were taken. If the tests were not made, the physician or other person shall state the reasons why the tests were not made. In no event shall the results of the tests be stated on the birth or fetal death certificate." ORC § 3701.46 "Every physician, nurse midwife, or other person in attendance at childbirth shall, immediately after the birth, use in the eyes of the newborn child some prophylactic against inflammation of the eyes of such child, and shall make a record on the birth certificate of the prophylactic used." ORC § 3701.55 If inflammation of the eyes of the newborn child or gonorrheal ophthalmia exists, as those terms are defined in ORC 3701.51, every physician or others attendant on the infant, who knows either condition exists, shall report such facts to the Health Commissioner within six hours. ORC § 3701.52 The person required to file a birth certificate shall cause the newborn infant to be tested by the Ohio Department of Health laboratory to determine the presence of phenylketonuria, homocystinuria, galactosemia, and hypothyroidism. ORC § 3701.501 (A) For this purpose, a blood specimen shall be collected from each newborn child immediately prior to discharge from the newborn nursery of a hospital. For an infant discharged prior to 48 hours of age, a second specimen shall be collected no sooner than 96 hours and no later than two weeks of age. OAC § 3701-45-01 (D) If the infant is not born in a hospital, a blood specimen shall be collected no sooner than 48 hours and no later than two weeks of age. OAC § 3701-45-01 (D) The requirement for this genetic testing does not apply if the parents of the child object on the grounds that such tests conflict with their religious tenets and practices. ORC § 3701.501 (B) Each hospital shall provide risk screening for hearing impairment of newborn infants and shall promptly notify an infant's primary care physician and the Department of Health of the name of any infant who is identified as at risk for hearing impairment using criteria established by the Department of Health. ORC § 3701.505 (A) If an infant is identified as at risk for hearing impairment and the hospital also provides hearing assessment, the hospital shall perform a hearing assessment on the infant. Whenever a hearing assessment identifies an infant as being hearing impaired, the hospital, clinic, or other facility providing the assessment shall promptly notify the infant's primary care physician and the Department of Health of the infant's name and the name and address of the infant's parent, guardian, or custodian. ORC § 3701.505 (B) No infant shall be required to undergo risk screening if the infant's parents object on the grounds that the screening conflicts with their religious tenets and practices. ORC § 3701.504 (See also: VITAL STATISTICS )OBSTETRICS, REQUIRED TESTS |
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