S-0946.1

SUBSTITUTE SENATE BILL 5182

BySenate Human Services (originally sponsored by Senators Nobles, Frame, Bateman, Hasegawa, Saldaña, Trudeau, and C. Wilson)

AN ACT Relating to programs and services for incarcerated parents at the department of corrections; and amending RCW 72.09.588.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF WASHINGTON:

Sec. 1. RCW 72.09.588 and 2018 c 41 s 1 are each amended to read as follows:

(1) The department must make reasonable accommodations for the provision of available midwifery or doula services to ((inmates))incarcerated individuals who are pregnant or who have given birth in the last six weeks. Persons providing midwifery or doula services must be granted appropriate facility access, must be allowed to attend and provide assistance during labor and childbirth where feasible, and must have access to the ((inmate's))incarcerated individual's relevant health care information, as defined in RCW 70.02.010, if the ((inmate))incarcerated individual authorizes disclosure.

(2) For purposes of this section, the following definitions apply:

(a) "Doula services" are services provided by a trained doula and designed to provide physical, emotional, or informational support to a pregnant ((woman))individual before, during, and after delivery of a child. Doula services may include, but are not limited to: Support and assistance during labor and childbirth; prenatal and postpartum education; breastfeeding assistance; parenting education; and support in the event that ((a woman))an individual has been or will become separated from ((her))their child.

(b) "Midwifery services" means medical aid rendered by a midwife to ((a woman))an individual during prenatal, intrapartum, or postpartum stages or to ((a woman's))an individual's newborn up to two weeks of age.

(c) "Midwife" means a midwife licensed under chapter 18.50 RCW or an advanced registered nurse practitioner licensed under chapter 18.79 RCW.

(3) Nothing in this section ((requires the department to establish or provide funding for midwifery or doula services, or)) prevents the department from adopting policy guidelines for the delivery of midwifery or doula services to ((inmates))incarcerated individuals, or from contracting with a nonprofit organization or partnering with volunteers to deliver these services to incarcerated individuals. Services provided under this section may not supplant health care services routinely provided to the ((inmate))incarcerated individual.

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