"Listening to Mothers Survey Act"; requires DOH to establish survey to evaluate and improve maternity care access and services.

S3798

SENATE, No. 3798

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 5, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� M. TERESA RUIZ

District 29 (Essex and Hudson)

SYNOPSIS

���� �Listening to Mothers Survey Act�; requires DOH to
establish survey to evaluate and improve maternity care access and services.

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act

concerning maternity care and supplementing
Title 26 of the Revised Statutes.

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.� The Commissioner of
Health shall develop a maternity care experience survey to evaluate women�s
experiences with maternity care services provided throughout the
pre-conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods.� The survey
shall include, at a minimum, questions concerning the woman�s experiences with
maternity care service providers and her perceptions of how she was received by
practitioners, how well her questions and concerns were addressed, the
responsiveness and availability of service providers, and whether she was
offered information and services with regard to key health metrics related to
maternity care.� In addition, the survey shall include the option for
respondents to report cultural, demographic, and socioeconomic background data.

���� b.��� The survey developed by
the commissioner pursuant to this section shall be distributed to women
receiving maternity care services at a hospital, ambulatory care facility, or
birthing center licensed pursuant to P.L.1971, c.136 (C.26:2H-1 et seq.), and
women shall be offered the opportunity to voluntarily complete the survey
following the termination of a pregnancy, regardless of whether the pregnancy
ends in live birth, or at such time as a woman concludes a course of treatment
related to maternity or reproductive care, such as assisted reproduction
services that do not result in pregnancy or the administration of long-term or
permanent contraception, including sterilization.� The survey shall be
distributed or otherwise made available no earlier than 14 days following the
termination of the pregnancy or the end of a course of treatment related to
maternity or reproductive care, but no later than 90 days following termination
of the pregnancy or the end of the course of treatment.

���� c.���� Survey data collected
pursuant to this section shall be reviewed to identify local and Statewide
trends in the provision of maternity care and disparities in care received by
discrete racial, cultural, and socioeconomic groups, and to develop programs, resources,
and strategies to improve access to, and the quality of, maternity care
services throughout the State.� The commissioner may contract with a third
party entity to administer the survey, review survey data, and produce the
report required pursuant to subsection d. of this section.

���� d.��� The commissioner shall
make survey data collected pursuant to this section available through the
Department of Health�s Internet

website in a user-friendly format, and shall, no later than 18 months after the
effective date of this act, submit a report to the Legislature, pursuant to
section 2 of P.L.1991, c.164 (C.52:14-19.1), concerning the results of the
survey and the commissioner�s recommendations for legislation or other
appropriate action; provided that nothing in this subsection shall be construed
to authorize the disclosure of any personal identifying information or
confidential patient information.

���� 2.��� The Commissioner of
Health, pursuant to the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P.L.1968, c.410
(C.52:14B-1 et seq.), shall promulgate rules and regulations to
effectuate the provisions of this act.

���� 3.��� This act shall take
effect 180 days after the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

����� The �Listening to Mothers Survey Act,� requires the
Commissioner of Health to develop a maternity care experience survey to
evaluate women�s experiences with maternity care services provided throughout
the pre-conception, pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum periods.� The survey
is to include, at a minimum, questions concerning the woman�s experiences with
maternity care service providers and her perceptions of how she was received by
practitioners, how well her questions and concerns were addressed, the responsiveness
and availability of service providers, and whether she was offered information
and services with regard to key health metrics related to maternity care.� The
survey is also required to include the option for respondents to report
cultural, demographic, and socioeconomic background data, along with any other
information requested by the commissioner.

����� The survey is to be made available to women receiving
maternity care services at a hospital, ambulatory care facility, or birthing
center, and women are to be offered the opportunity to voluntarily complete the
survey following the termination of a pregnancy, regardless of whether the
pregnancy ends in live birth, or at such time as a woman concludes a course of
treatment related to maternity or reproductive care, such as assisted
reproduction services that do not result in pregnancy or the administration of
long-term or permanent contraception, including sterilization.� The survey is
to be distributed or otherwise made available no earlier than 14 days following
the termination of the pregnancy or the end of a course of treatment related to
maternity or reproductive care, but no later than 90 days following termination
of the pregnancy or the end of the course of treatment.

����� The collected survey data is to be reviewed to
identify local and Statewide trends in the provision of maternity care and
disparities in the care received by discrete racial, cultural, and
socioeconomic groups, and to develop programs, resources, and strategies to
improve access to, and the quality of, maternity care services throughout the
State.
�