CA AB55

Removes the requirement that alternative birth centers be certified providers of comprehensive perinatal services as defined in Medi-Cal provisions, instead requiring facilities to provide perinatal services that are "comprehensive in nature" including psychosocial assessments, nutritional assessments, and education on health, childbirth, and parenting

Eliminates the requirement that alternative birth centers be located in proximity to hospitals with obstetric/neonatal emergency capacity, replacing it with a mandatory written policy for hospital transfer

Requires the hospital transfer policy to include specific arrangements for referral of complications to physicians, transfer of care during prenatal/intrapartum/postpartum periods, provision of medical records at transfer, and recommendations for preregistration at a receiving hospital

Mandates that patients be informed in writing of the estimated transfer time to the planned receiving hospital and the facility's overall emergency transfer plan, with signed acknowledgment kept in medical files

Maintains the requirement that at least two attendants be present during birth, one of whom must be a physician, licensed midwife, or certified nurse-midwife