Mississippi Administrative Code › Title 15 - Mississippi Department of Health › Part 5 - Office of Health Informatics › Subpart 85 - Public Health Statistics › Chapter 1 - Rules Governing the Registration and Certification of Vital Events › Subchapter 3 - Definitions › Rule 15-5-85-1.3.1 - Definitions

Current through June 25, 2024
1. "
Abortion
" means the use or
					 prescription of any instrument, medicine, drug or any other substance or device
					 to terminate the pregnancy of a woman known to be pregnant with an intention
					 other than to increase the probability of a live birth, to preserve the life or
					 health of the child after live birth or to remove a dead fetus.
2. "
Agency
," in the contexts of
					 an adoption, means a county welfare department, a licensed or non-licensed
					 adoption agency or any other legally authorized individual or entity assisting
					 in the finalization of an adoption.
3. "
Certificate of Birth Resulting in
					 Stillbirth
" means a birth certificate issued to record and memorialize
					 the birth of a stillborn child. This document shall include the statement "This
					 certificate is not proof of live birth".
4. "
County Medical Examiner
"
					 means a licensed physician who is a coroner or a deputy coroner trained to
					 investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest.
5. "
County Medical Examiner
					 Investigator
" means a non-physician coroner or deputy coroner trained to
					 investigate and certify deaths affecting the public interest.
6. "
Death
" means when an
					 individual has sustained either an irreversible cessation of circulatory and
					 respiratory functions or irreversible cessation of all functions of the entire
					 brain, including the brain stem. A determination of death must be made in
					 accordance with accepted medical standards.
7. "
Dead Body
" means a human
					 body or parts of such human body, the condition of which may reasonably lead to
					 the conclusion that death has occurred.
8. "
Embalming
" means the
					 disinfection of the dead human body by replacing certain body fluids with
					 preserving and disinfecting chemicals.
9. "
Father
" means the male to
					 whom the 'mother' was married at the time of conception or birth or at any time
					 between conception and birth or, in the absence of marriage, the male who has
					 acknowledged or been identified by court order under the appropriate statutes
					 of the Mississippi Code of 1972, Annotated, as being the father of the fetus or
					 child.
10. "
Fetal
					 Death
" means death prior to the complete expulsion or extraction from
					 its mother of a product of human conception, irrespective of duration of
					 pregnancy; the death is indicated by the fact that after such expulsion or
					 extraction the fetus does not breathe or show any other evidence of life, such
					 as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite movement
					 of voluntary muscles.
11.
					 "
Filing
" means the presentation and acceptance of a vital record
					 for registration by the Office of Vital Records.
12. "
Final Disposition
" means
					 the burial, interment, cremation, removal from the state or other authorized
					 disposition of a dead body or fetus.
13. "
Induced Termination of
					 Pregnancy
" means the intentional termination of pregnancy with the
					 intention other than to produce a live-born infant or to remove a dead
					 fetus.
14.
					 "
Institution
" means any establishment, public or private, which
					 provides in patient medical, surgical, or diagnostic care or treatment, or
					 nursing, custodial or domiciliary care to four or more unrelated individuals,
					 or to which persons are committed by law.
15. "
Legal Representative
" means
					 attorney, physician, funeral director, or other authorized agent acting on
					 behalf of the registrant or his or her family.
16. "
Licensed Adoption Agency
"
					 means any agency or organization performing adoption services duly licensed by
					 the Mississippi Department of Human Services, Division of Family and Children's
					 Services.
17. "
Live
					 Birth
" means the complete expulsion or extraction from its mother of a
					 product of human conception, irrespective of the duration of pregnancy, which,
					 after such expulsion or extraction, breathes or shows other evidence of life,
					 such as beating of the heart, pulsation of the umbilical cord or definite
					 movement of voluntary muscles, whether or not the umbilical cord has been cut
					 or the placenta is attached.
18.
					 "
Medical Examiner
" means the state Medical Examiner, county
					 medical examiners and county medical examiner investors collectively, unless
					 otherwise specified.
19.
					 "
Medical Treatment
" means the management and care of a patient to
					 combat disease or disorder and includes, but is not limited to,
					 hospitalization, laboratory tests, surgery or prescription drugs.
20. "
Mother
" means the female
					 from whom a live birth or fetal death was expulsed or extracted, and to whom
					 the umbilical cord and placenta were attached, or whom a court order specifies
					 as the mother of the fetus or child.
21. "
Physician
" means a person
					 authorized or licensed under the laws of the state to practice medicine or
					 osteopathy.
22.
					 "
Registration
" means the acceptance by the Office of Vital Records
					 and the incorporation of a vital record into its official records.
23. "
Reporting
" means the
					 submission of information relating to a vital event to the Office of Vital
					 Records for medical, health, statistical, or administrative uses, but not for
					 incorporation into its permanent official records.
24. "
State Medical Examiner
"
					 means the physician, board certified in forensic pathology, appointed by the
					 Commissioner of Public Safety to investigate and certify deaths which affect
					 the public interest.
25.
					 "
Stillbirth
" or "
Stillborn
" means an unintended,
					 intrauterine fetal death occurring in this state after a gestational age of not
					 less than twenty (20) completed weeks, or a weight of 350 grams or more.
					 Stillbirths are required to be reported as Fetal Deaths.
26. "
System of Vital Statistics
"
					 includes the collection, registration, preservation, amendment, and
					 certification of vital records; the collection of other required reports on
					 vital events; and activities related thereto, including the tabulation,
					 analysis, and publication of vital statistics.
27. "
Verifiable Midwife
" means a
					 'lay' or 'granny' midwife whose identity and initial delivery has been
					 documented by an authorized representative of the State Registrar of Vital
					 Records, or a midwife that has been certified by a state or nationally
					 recognized organization.
28.
					 "
Vital Events
" means the occurrences of live births, deaths, fetal
					 deaths, induced termination of pregnancy, adoptions, marriages, divorces and
					 annulments.
29. "
Vital
					 Records
" means certificates or reports of the following categories of
					 vital events; births, deaths, marriages, divorces and annulments and data
					 related thereto.
30. "
Vital
					 Statistics
" means the data derived from certificates and reports of all
					 categories of vital events and related reports.
Miss. Code
						Ann. §
												41-57-1; Miss. Code Ann. §
												41-57-7