(a) Each fetal death of 20 completed weeks gestation or more, calculated from the date that the last normal menstrual period began to the date of delivery, or a weight of 500 grams or more, which occurs in the District shall be reported as directed by the Registrar within 5 days after occurrence. For purposes of preparing and filing a fetal death report the following rules apply:
(1) When such fetal death occurs in an institution, the person in charge of the institution or his or her designee shall prepare and file the report required by this section;
(2) When such fetal death occurs outside an institution, the physician in attendance at the delivery or immediately after delivery shall prepare and file the report required by this section;
(3) When a fetal death required to be reported under this section occurs without medical attendance at or immediately after the delivery, the Medical Examiner shall prepare and file the fetal death report;
(4) When such fetal death occurs on a moving conveyance and the fetus is first removed from the conveyance in the District, the fetal death shall be reported in the District. The place where the fetus was first removed from the conveyance shall be considered the place of fetal death;
(5) When a dead fetus is found in the District and the place of fetal death is unknown, the fetal death shall be reported in the District and the place where the dead fetus is found shall be considered the place of fetal death.
(b) The name of the mother and the father shall be entered on each fetal death report in accordance with the provisions of § 7-205.
(c) Each report required in this section is a statistical report to be used only for medical and health purposes and shall not be incorporated into the permanent official records of the system of vital records. A schedule for the disposition of these reports shall be provided for by regulation.
CREDIT(S)
(Oct. 8, 1981, D.C. Law 4-34, § 14, 28 DCR 3271.)
HISTORICAL AND STATUTORY NOTES
Prior Codifications
1981 Ed., § 6-213.
Legislative History of Laws
For legislative history of D.C. Law 4-34, see Historical and Statutory Notes following § 7-201.
