Article 2. Content Of Certificate Of Live Birth of California Health And Safety Code >> Division 102. >> Part 1. >> Chapter 3. >> Article 2.
(a) The certificate of live birth for any live birth
occurring on or after January 1, 2016, shall contain those items
necessary to establish the fact of the birth and shall contain only
the following information:
(1) Full name and sex of the child.
(2) Date of birth, including month, day, hour, and year.
(3) Place of birth.
(4) Full name, birthplace, and date of birth of each parent,
including month, day, and year, and the parental relationship of the
parent to the child.
(A) The full name of the mother shall be the birth name of the
mother.
(B) If the birth mother is one of the parents listed on the
certificate of live birth, her name shall be placed on the second
parent line.
(C) If the parents are not married to each other, the father's
name shall not be listed on the birth certificate unless the father
and the mother sign a voluntary declaration of paternity at the
hospital before the birth certificate is submitted for registration.
The birth certificate may be amended to add the father's name at a
later date only if paternity for the child has been established by a
judgment of a court of competent jurisdiction or by the filing of a
voluntary declaration of paternity.
(5) Multiple births and birth order of multiple births.
(6) Signature, and relationship to the child, of a parent or other
informant, and date signed.
(7) Name, title, and mailing address of the attending physician
and surgeon or principal attendant, signature, and certification of
live birth by the attending physician and surgeon or principal
attendant or certifier, date signed, and name and title of the
certifier if other than the attending physician and surgeon or
principal attendant.
(8) Date accepted for registration and signature of local
registrar.
(9) A state birth certificate number and local registration
district and number.
(10) A blank space for entry of the date of death with a caption
reading "Date of Death."
(b) In addition to the items listed in subdivision (a), the
certificate of live birth shall contain the following medical and
social information, provided that the information is kept
confidential pursuant to Sections 102430 and 102447 and is clearly
labeled "Confidential Information for Public Health Use Only:"
(1) Birth weight.
(2) Pregnancy history.
(3) Race and ethnicity of the mother and father.
(4) Residence address of the birth mother.
(5) A blank space for entry of census tract for the birth mother's
address.
(6) Date of first prenatal care visit, the number of prenatal care
visits, and commencing January 1, 2007, the date of last prenatal
care visit.
(7) Date of last normal menses and, commencing January 1, 2007, an
obstetric estimate of completed weeks of gestation at delivery.
(8) Description of complications and procedures of pregnancy and
concurrent illnesses, congenital malformation, and any complication
or procedure of labor and delivery, including surgery, provided that
this information is essential medical information and appears in
total on the face of the certificate.
(9) Commencing January 1, 2007, hearing screen results.
(10) Mother's and father's occupations and kind of business or
industry.
(11) Education level of the mother and father.
(12) Principal source of payment for prenatal care, which shall
include the following: Medi-Cal, private insurance, self-pay, other
sources, and any other categories as may be determined by the State
Department of Public Health.
(13) Expected principal source of payment for delivery, which
shall include the following: Medi-Cal, private insurance, self-pay,
other sources, and any other categories as may be determined by the
State Department of Public Health.
(14) An indication of whether or not the child's parent desires
the automatic issuance of a social security number to the child.
(15) On and after January 1, 1995, the social security numbers of
the mother and father, unless subdivision (d) applies.
(c) When an objection is made by either parent to the furnishing
of the information specified in paragraphs (3), (10), and (11) of
subdivision (b) for the confidential portion of the certificate of
live birth, this information shall not be required to be entered on
that portion of the certificate of live birth.
(d) A parent is not required to disclose his or her social
security number as required by paragraph (15) of subdivision (b) if
the parent has good cause for not disclosing his or her social
security number. Good cause shall be defined by regulations adopted
by the State Department of Social Services.
(e) Paragraph (8) of subdivision (b) shall be completed by the
attending physician and surgeon or the attending physician and
surgeon's designated representative. The names and addresses of
children born with congenital malformations who require followup
treatment, as determined by the child's physician and surgeon, shall
be furnished by the physician and surgeon to the local health
officer, if permission is granted by either parent of the child.
(f) The parent shall only be asked to sign the form after both the
public portion and the confidential medical and social information
items have been entered upon the certificate of live birth.
(g) (1) The State Registrar shall instruct all local registrars to
collect the information specified in this section with respect to
certificates of live birth. The information shall be transcribed on
the certificate of live birth in use at the time and shall be limited
to the information specified in this section.
(2) Information relating to concurrent illnesses, complications
and procedures of pregnancy and delivery, and congenital
malformations shall be completed by the physician and surgeon, or the
physician and surgeon's designee, who shall insert in the space
provided on the confidential portion of the certificate the
appropriate number or numbers listed on the VS-10A supplemental
worksheet. The VS-10A supplemental form shall be used as a worksheet
only and shall not in any manner be linked with the identity of the
child or the birth mother, nor submitted with the certificate to the
State Registrar. All information transferred from the worksheet to
the certificate shall be fully explained to the parent or other
informant prior to the signing of the certificate. Questions relating
to drug or alcohol abuse shall not be asked.
(h) (1) The Vital Statistics Advisory Committee, in accordance
with Section 102465, shall conduct a review of the contents of the
certificate of live birth to coincide with decennial revisions by the
National Center for Health Statistics to the United States Standard
Certificate of Live Birth. The Vital Statistics Advisory Committee
shall make recommendations to the State Registrar regarding the
adoption of modifications to the state certificate of live birth that
are similar to those made to the federal certificate.
(2) Notwithstanding Section 102470, the State Registrar shall
review the Vital Statistics Advisory Committee recommendations and,
at the State Registrar's discretion, shall submit to the Legislature,
for approval, additions or deletions to the certificate of live
birth.
(i) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
(a) Notwithstanding Sections 102465 and 102470, the State
Registrar of Vital Statistics, with regard to identification of the
parents, shall modify the certificate of live birth to do both of the
following:
(1) Contain two lines that both read "Name of Parent."
(2) Contain, next to each parent's name, three checkboxes to
choose from with the following options to describe the parent's
relationship to the child:
(A) Mother.
(B) Father.
(C) Parent.
(b) (1) The certificate of live birth, as described in subdivision
(a), shall be used by all local registrars, deputy registrars, and
subregistrars.
(2) The local registrars, deputy registrars, and subregistrars
shall update all forms to incorporate the modification and discard
all forms in use before the modification described in subdivision
(a).
(c) The parent or informant signing the certificate of live birth
pursuant to paragraph (6) of subdivision (a) of Section 102425 shall
determine which parent relationship designation, as described in
subdivision (a), to select for each parent. The informant shall first
consult with one of the parents in selecting the appropriate parent
relationship designation, or, in the event that no parent is
available, the informant shall not select any checkboxes.
(d) The parent relationship designations on a certificate of live
birth described in subdivision (a) may be amended in the manner
prescribed in Article 1 (commencing with Section 103225) if the
amendment affidavit is signed by at least one parent.
(e) For all births occurring prior to January 1, 2016, a parent
may amend, in the manner prescribed in Article 1 (commencing with
Section 103225), the title of "Mother/Parent" and "Father/Parent" on
the certificate of live birth to instead have one of the parent
relationship designations specified in paragraph (2) of subdivision
(a).
(f) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
(a) If the birth mother is one of the parents listed on
the certificate of live birth pursuant to paragraph (4) of
subdivision (a) of Section 102425, the birth mother's name, date of
birth, and place of birth shall be linked to her medical and social
information collected pursuant to subdivision (b) of Section 102425
and paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 102426. This linkage
shall be confidential and may only be accessed, as permitted under
subdivision (b) of Section 102426 and Section 102430.
(b) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
(a) (1) In addition to the items of information collected
pursuant to Section 102425, the State Registrar shall instruct all
local registrars that have automated birth registration to
electronically capture the information specified in paragraph (2) in
an electronic file. The information shall not be transcribed onto the
actual hard copy of the certificate of live birth.
(2) The information required pursuant to paragraph (1) shall
consist of the following:
(A) The mother's marital status.
(B) The mother's mailing address. The mother may designate an
alternate address at her discretion.
(C) Information about whether the birth mother received food for
herself during the pregnancy pursuant to the Women, Infants, and
Children (WIC) program.
(D) The Activity, Pulse, Grimace, Appearance, and Respiration
(Apgar) scores of 5 and 10 minutes.
(E) The birth mother's prepregnancy weight, weight at delivery,
and height.
(F) Information about smoking before and during pregnancy,
including the average number of cigarettes or packs of cigarettes
smoked during the three months before pregnancy and the average
number of cigarettes or packs of cigarettes smoked during each
trimester of pregnancy.
(3) Subparagraphs (B) to (F), inclusive, of paragraph (2) shall
become operative on January 1, 2007.
(b) Notwithstanding any provision of law to the contrary,
information collected pursuant to subparagraph (A) of paragraph (2)
of subdivision (a) shall not under any circumstances be disclosed or
available to anyone, except for both of the following:
(1) The State Department of Public Health and the Department of
Child Support Services for demographic and statistical analysis. The
Department of Child Support Services shall keep information received
pursuant to this subdivision confidential in accordance with Section
17212 of the Family Code.
(2) The federal government, without any personal identifying
information, for demographic and statistical analysis.
(a) The second section of the certificate of live birth as
specified in subdivision (b) of Section 102425, the electronic file
of birth information collected pursuant to subparagraphs (B) to (F),
inclusive, of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 102426, the
birth mother linkage collected pursuant to Section 102425.2, and the
second section of the certificate of fetal death as specified in
Section 103025, are confidential. Access to the confidential portion
of any certificate of live birth or fetal death, the electronic file
of birth information collected pursuant to subparagraphs (B) to (F),
inclusive, of paragraph (2) of subdivision (a) of Section 102426, and
the birth mother linkage collected pursuant to Section 102425.2
shall be limited to the following:
(1) Department staff.
(2) Local registrar's staff and local health department staff when
approved by the local registrar or local health officer,
respectively.
(3) The county coroner.
(4) Persons with a valid scientific interest as determined by the
State Registrar, who are engaged in demographic, epidemiological, or
other similar studies related to health, and who agree to maintain
confidentiality as prescribed by this part and by regulation of the
State Registrar.
(5) The parent who signed the certificate or, if no parent signed
the certificate, the mother.
(6) The person named on the certificate.
(7) A person who has petitioned to adopt the person named on the
certificate of live birth, subject to Section 102705 of the Health
and Safety Code and Sections 9200 and 9203 of the Family Code.
(b) (1) The department shall maintain an accurate record of all
persons who are given access to the confidential portion of the
certificates. The record shall include all of the following:
(A) The name of the person authorizing access.
(B) The name, title, and organizational affiliation of persons
given access.
(C) The dates of access.
(D) The specific purpose for which the information is to be used.
(2) The record of access shall be open to public inspection during
normal operating hours of the department.
(c) All research proposed to be conducted using the confidential
medical and social information on the birth certificate or fetal
death certificate shall first be reviewed by the appropriate
committee constituted for the protection of human subjects that is
approved by the federal Department of Health and Human Services and
has a general assurance pursuant to Part 46 of Title 45 of the Code
of Federal Regulations. Information shall not be released until the
request for information has been reviewed by the Vital Statistics
Advisory Committee and the committee has recommended to the State
Registrar that the information shall be released.
(d) This section shall become operative on January 1, 2016.
Notwithstanding Sections 102425 and 102430, the department
may transmit to the Social Security Administration the information
necessary to issue a social security number to a child in a case
where the child's parent has requested the issuance pursuant to
paragraph (14) of subdivision (b) of Section 102425.
After public hearing and consultation with the Vital
Statistics Advisory Committee, the State Registrar shall adopt
regulations specifying the contents of a medical and health report
and shall supply the necessary forms to hospitals and local
registrars. The contents of the report shall be limited to the
medical, health, or social data necessary to evaluate or improve
maternal and child health, as determined by the State Registrar.
The State Registrar shall make a finding that the specific items
of information included in the report are not available from other
sources at a comparable cost and that sufficient resources and a
research design are available to analyze the data collected.
Notwithstanding Section 102430, a parent's social security
number contained in the confidential medical and social information
portion of the child's certificate of live birth shall be accessible
to the State Department of Child Support Services and local child
support agencies for the purposes of operating the Child Support
Enforcement Program, as specified in Title IV-D of the federal Social
Security Act.
(a) For each registration of live birth submitted to the
local registrar pursuant to Section 102400, the hospital
administrator, or the person's representative, shall submit a
completed medical and health report that meets the requirements of
Section 102445. For live births that occur outside of a hospital, the
medical and health report shall be completed and submitted by the
local registrar when the local registrar receives the certificate of
live birth for registration from the person designated in Section
102415.
(b) The medical and health report shall be submitted to the State
Registrar by the local registrar for filing. Such report shall not be
kept on file in the offices of the local registrars.
(a) The medical and health report required pursuant to
Section 102445 shall be clearly labeled "Confidential Information for
Public Health Use Only." The parent or informant shall be informed
of the purposes for collecting the information, its confidential
nature, and that completing the specific items is voluntary.
(b) When objection is made by either parent to the furnishing of
information requested in a specific item or items in the medical and
health report that information shall not be entered.
(c) The mother, father or child shall not be identified by name or
any other means in the medical and health report.
With the exception of statistical tabulation purposes, the
medical and health report shall be kept confidential and access to
the report shall be limited to the following persons:
(a) State and local registrar's staff.
(b) State and local health department staff.
(c) Persons with a valid educational or scientific interest, as
determined by the State Registrar, who are engaged in demographic and
epidemiological studies for health purposes.
The department shall maintain an accurate record of all persons
who are given access to the report. The record shall include: the
name of the persons authorizing access; name, title, and
organizational affiliation of persons given access; dates of access;
and specific purpose for which information is to be used. The record
of access shall be open to public inspection during normal operating
hours of the department.
(a) The State Registrar shall appoint a Vital Statistics
Advisory Committee that shall have the following duties:
(1) Review and make recommendations to the State Registrar as to
the adequacy of procedures to assure accuracy and confidentiality of
personal health and medical information.
(2) Review the findings of the committee for the protection of
human subjects pursuant to subdivision (c) of Section 102430 and make
recommendations to the State Registrar regarding all requests for
studies that propose to use confidential information with respect to
whether a legitimate scientific interest is presented and whether the
significance of the project justifies use of the confidential
information.
(3) Assure that all research conducted using the data from birth
certificates is consistent with guidelines provided by an
appropriately constituted committee for the protection of human
subjects of the department, as specified in subdivision (c) of
Section 102430.
(4) Review and make recommendations to the State Registrar as to
proposals for addition or deletion of items on the certificate of
live birth and advise the State Registrar on the content and format
of the certificate.
(5) Take testimony and make recommendations to the State Registrar
regarding changes in the birth registration system.
(b) The Vital Statistics Advisory Committee shall include
representatives from the users, providers, and informant groups who
are involved in the process of the provision and collection of
information for and the use of the certificate of live birth, and
shall include the chairpersons of the Assembly Health Committee and
the Senate Health and Welfare Committee or their designated
representative, and shall have a majority of lay persons in its
composition. The State Registrar shall make every effort to ensure
that committee membership is representative of the community at
large. Consideration shall be given to providing access to relevant
classes of persons including, but not limited to, women, men, racial
and ethnic minorities, in proportion to their representation in the
affected population.
Membership on the committee shall be for a term of three years,
appointments to be made on a staggered basis to allow for one-third
membership to change annually.
The State Registrar shall publish within 30 days of receipt
of recommendations by the Vital Statistics Advisory Committee, made
pursuant to Section 102465, (1) a list of the recommendations
adopted, and (2) a list of the recommendations not adopted, with
reasons for the action.
(a) Any person who releases a copy of the confidential
portion of the certificate of live birth, except as specifically
provided by this part, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor, punishable
by a fine of five hundred dollars ($500) or six months in jail. The
criminal penalty shall not preclude suit for civil or punitive
damages by any individuals harmed by the unauthorized release.
(b) Any person who is the subject of, or the source of information
for, a birth certificate, who has reason to believe there has been
linkage of confidential information with his or her identity and
disclosure of the confidential information to a person not specified
in subdivision (a) of Section 102430, shall have a civil right of
action against the person releasing the information and may seek
punitive damages.