71-3409. Review of child deaths, stillbirths, maternal deaths, and severe maternal morbidity; manner.

(1)(a) The State Child Death Review Team shall review child deaths in the manner provided in this subsection.

(b) The members shall review the death certificate, birth certificate, coroner's report or autopsy report if done, and indicators of child or family involvement with the department. The members shall classify the nature of the death, whether accidental, homicide, suicide, undetermined, or natural causes, determine the completeness of the death certificate, and identify discrepancies and inconsistencies.

(c) A review shall not be conducted on any child death under active investigation by a law enforcement agency or under criminal prosecution. The members may seek records described in section 71-3410. The members shall identify the preventability of death, the possibility of child abuse or neglect, the medical care issues of access and adequacy, and the nature and extent of interagency communication.

(2)(a) The team may review stillbirths in the manner provided in this subsection.

(b) The members may review the death certificates and other documentation which will allow the team to identify preventable causes of stillbirths.

(c) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to require review of any stillbirth death.

(3)(a) The State Maternal Death Review Team shall review all maternal deaths in the manner provided in this subsection.

(b) The members shall review the maternal death records in accordance with evidence-based best practices in order to determine: (i) If the death is pregnancy-related; (ii) the cause of death; (iii) if the death was preventable; (iv) the factors that contributed to the death; (v) recommendations and actions that address those contributing factors; and (vi) the anticipated impact of those actions if implemented.

(c) A review shall not be conducted on any maternal death under active investigation by a law enforcement agency or under criminal prosecution. The members may seek records described in section 71-3410. The members shall identify the preventability of death, the possibility of domestic abuse, the medical care issues of access and adequacy, and the nature and extent of interagency communication.

(4)(a) The team may review incidents of severe maternal morbidity in the manner provided in this subsection and additionally, may use guidelines published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention or develop its own guidelines for such review.

(b) The members may review any records or documents which will allow the team to identify preventable causes of severe maternal morbidity.

(c) Nothing in this subsection shall be interpreted to require the review of any incident of severe maternal morbidity.

Source:Laws 1993, LB 431, § 6; Laws 1996, LB 1044, § 649; Laws 2013, LB361, § 6; Laws 2022, LB741, § 52; Laws 2023, LB227, § 99.
Operative Date: September 2, 2023