Illinois Administrative Code › Title 77 - PUBLIC HEALTH › Part 264 - BIRTH CENTER LICENSING CODE › Subpart A - GENERAL REQUIREMENTS › Section 264.1050 - Definitions

Current through Register Vol. 48, No. 28, July 12, 2024
Act - Birth Center Licensing Act.
Adequate - enough in either quantity or quality, as
				  determined by a reasonable person familiar with the professional standards of
				  the subject under review, to meet the needs of the clients of a birth center
				  under the set of circumstances in existence at the time of review.
Administrative Perinatal Center or APC - a referral facility
				  intended to care for the high-risk client before, during, or after labor and
				  delivery and characterized by sophistication and availability of personnel,
				  equipment, laboratory, transportation techniques, consultation and other
				  support services. An APC is a university or university-affiliated hospital
				  designated by the Department as a Level III hospital that receives financial
				  support from the Department to provide leadership and oversight of the
				  Regionalized Perinatal Healthcare Program.
Administrator - the person who is directly responsible for
				  the operation and administration of the birth center, irrespective of the
				  person's assigned title.
Advanced practice registered nurse or APRN - a person
				  who has met the qualifications for a certified nurse midwife (CNM); certified
				  nurse practitioner (CNP); certified registered nurse anesthetist (CRNA); or
				  clinical nurse specialist (CNS) and has been licensed by the Department of
				  Financial and Professional Regulation.
(Section 50-10 of the Nurse
				  Practice Act)
Antepartum - the period before labor or childbirth.
Applicant - any person, acting individually or with any other
				  person, who proposes to build, own, establish or operate a birth center.
Birth assistant - a licensed certified professional midwife
				  or a person
licensed or certified in Illinois
by the
				  Department of Financial and Professional Regulation
in a health-related
				  field and under the supervision of a physician, a certified nurse midwife, or a
				  licensed certified professional midwife who in attendance, has specialized
				  training in labor and delivery techniques and care of newborns; and receives
				  planned and ongoing training as needed to perform assigned duties
				  effectively.
(Section 25(d) of the Act)
Birth attendant -
an obstetrician, family
				  practitioner
(family physician)
physician, certified nurse
				  midwife, or licensed certified professional midwife shall attend each person in
				  labor from the time of admission through birth and throughout the immediate
				  postpartum period.
(Section 25(c) of the Act)
Birth center or center -
a designated site, other
				  than a hospital:
in which births are planned to occur following a
				  normal, uncomplicated, and low risk pregnancy;
that is not the pregnant person's usual place of
				  residence;
that is dedicated to serving the childbirth-related
				  needs of pregnant persons and their newborns, and has no more than 10
				  beds;
that offers prenatal care and community education
				  services and coordinates these services with other health care services
				  available in the community; and
that does not provide general anesthesia or
				  surgery
(except as allowed per Sections
				  264.1800(h) and
				  (i). (Section 5 of the Act)
Birthing person - an individual who is pregnant or in
				  labor.
Birth room - a room specifically designed and equipped for a
				  single occupancy client to give birth under the care of birth attendant.
Birth unit - several birth rooms grouped or clustered around
				  a central area/station that maintains direct supervision (electronic
				  supervision is not permitted) of the birth rooms.
Certified nurse midwife
or CNM
- an
				  advanced practice registered nurse licensed in Illinois under the Nurse
				  Practice Act with full practice authority or who is delegated such authority as
				  part of a written collaborative agreement with a physician who is associated
				  with the birthing center or who has privileges at a nearby birthing
				  hospital.
(Section 5 of the Act)
Charitable care - the intentioned provision of free or
				  discounted birth center services to persons who cannot afford to pay for the
				  services.
Client - a person who receives services provided at the birth
				  center and the infant of that birth.
Clinical director - a physician who is either
				  certified or eligible for certification by the American College of
				  Obstetricians and Gynecologists or the American Board of Osteopathic
				  Obstetricians and Gynecologists or has hospital obstetrical privileges; or a
				  certified nurse midwife
(CNM) (Section 25 of the Act) who provides
				  guidance, leadership, oversight, and quality assurance to the birth
				  center.
Close proximity -a distance which allows a person to be
				  physically present in a place within 30 minutes after being called.
Community education services - information and education
				  provided to the pregnant person and their family, during both early and late
				  pregnancy, that promote healthy outcomes for the pregnant person and their
				  infant and postpartum period.
Department - the Illinois Department of Public
				  Health.
(Section 5 of the Act)
Governing body - a board of trustees, governing board, board
				  of directors or other body or individual responsible for governing a birth
				  center.
Gravidity and Parity or GP - the number of times a person has
				  been pregnant (gravidity) and carried the pregnancies to a viable gestational
				  age (parity).
Health-related field - either a registered nurse, certified
				  professional midwife or licensed practical nurse, or other classifications that
				  are licensed, registered, or certified by the Illinois Department of Financial
				  and Professional Regulation.
High-risk client - a person, fetus, or newborn with an
				  increased level of risk of harm or mortality from congenital and/or
				  environmental factors.
Hospital - a facility licensed under the Hospital Licensing
				  Act.
"Hospital" does not include places where pregnant females are
				  received, cared for, or treated during delivery if it is in a licensed birth
				  center, nor includes any facility required to be licensed as a birth
				  center.
(Section 5 of the Act)
Immediate postpartum period - the first 24 hours after
				  childbirth. This period refers to the time just after childbirth, during which
				  the infant's physiology adapts and the risks to the pregnant person of
				  postpartum hemorrhage and other significant morbidity are highest.
Inspection - any survey, evaluation, or investigation of the
				  birth center's compliance with the Act and this Part by the Department or
				  designee.
Intrapartum - the time from the onset of labor until the
				  delivery of the infant and placenta.
Licensed certified professional midwife - a person
				  who has successfully met the requirements under Section 45 of the Licensed
				  Certified Professional Midwife Practice Act and holds an active license to
				  practice as a licensed certified professional midwife in Illinois.
(Section 5 of the Act)
Licensee - the person or entity licensed to operate the birth
				  center.
Low-risk pregnancy - a pregnancy that, based on history,
				  application of risk criteria per subsection
				  264.1550(g),
				  and adequate prenatal care, is broadly predicted to have a normal,
				  uncomplicated outcome.
Medical care facility - a hospital, birthing center,
				  and any other licensed facility that provides obstetrical and newborn nursery
				  services.
(Section 2 of the Early Hearing Detection and Intervention
				  Act)
Newborn infant or newborn or infant - an infant who is
				  delivered at the birth center or a referral hospital following transfer from
				  the birth center.
Nurse - a registered nurse or licensed practical nurse as
				  defined in the Nurse Practice Act.
Obstetrician - a physician who is certified or eligible for
				  certification by the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.
Operator - the person responsible for the control,
				  maintenance and governance of the birth center, its personnel and physical
				  plant.
Owner - the individual, partnership, corporation, or other
				  person who owns the birth center.
Physician - a physician licensed to practice medicine
				  in all its branches in Illinois.
(Section 5 of the Act)
Postpartum person - an individual who gave birth at the birth
				  center or who was transferred to a referral hospital.
Pregnant person - an individual with a developing embryo,
				  fetus, or unborn child within their body.
Prenatal care - medical care for a pregnant person and their
				  fetus throughout their pregnancy.
Program narrative - a description of the center's proposed
				  operation, which clarifies or explains choices related to space, equipment,
				  finishes, or other specifications in the architectural plans (See Section
				  264.2700).
Quality assurance - an ongoing, objective, and systematic
				  process of monitoring, evaluating, and improving the quality, appropriateness,
				  and effectiveness of care.
Quality Assessment and Performance Improvement Program or
				  QAPI - a systematic, comprehensive, and data-driven approach to maintaining and
				  improving safety and quality in birth center services while involving all staff
				  in practical and creative problem solving. Quality assessment is the
				  specification of standards for quality of service and outcomes, and is a
				  process used throughout the organization to ensure care is maintained at
				  acceptable levels in relation to those standards. Performance improvement is
				  the continuous study and improvement of processes with the intent to better
				  services or outcomes, and to decrease the likelihood of problems, by
				  identifying areas of opportunity.
Referral hospital - a hospital designated under the
				  Regionalized Perinatal Health Care Code and intended to care for the high-risk
				  client before, during, or after labor and delivery and characterized by
				  sophistication and availability of personnel, equipment, laboratory,
				  transportation techniques, consultation, and other support services.
Registered professional nurse or RN - a person who is
				  licensed as a registered professional nurse under the Nurse Practice
				  Act.
Risk assessment - a process by which historical, physical,
				  and laboratory data are applied for the prediction of pregnancy outcome.
Sanitize - to destroy microorganisms by cleaning or
				  disinfecting.
Sterilization - the use of a physical or chemical procedure
				  to destroy all microbial life, including bacterial endospores.
Substantial compliance or substantially comply - meeting
				  requirements, except for variance from the strict and literal performance that
				  results in unimportant omissions or defects, given the circumstances
				  involved.
Supervision - authoritative procedural guidance by a
				  qualified person for the accomplishment of a function or activity within
				  his/her sphere of competence, with initial direction and periodic surveillance
				  of the actual act of accomplishing the function or activity.
Support person - an individual who provides emotional support
				  or help with relaxation techniques and comfort measures.
Survey - a detailed, complete inspection of the birth
				  center.
Universal/standard precautions - as defined by the Centers
				  for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), recommendations designed to prevent
				  transmission of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), hepatitis B virus (HBV) and
				  other blood borne pathogens when providing health care.
Vaginal delivery - a vaginal birth that occurs without
				  assistance from forceps or a suction device.