NJ A1799

Requires the Commissioner of Health to develop a voluntary shared decision-making tool for maternity care hospitals and licensed birthing centers to improve patient knowledge, collaboration with providers, and birth outcomes

The tool must include patient questionnaires, educational fact sheets about choosing providers, labor support techniques, risks of pre-term inductions and cesarean sections, and multimedia materials about maternal conditions and treatment options

Establishes a three-year pilot program with select hospitals and birthing centers from northern, central, and southern regions of the state to evaluate the tool's effectiveness

Participating facilities must collect data on labor inductions, cesarean sections, vaginal deliveries, gestational timing of births, birth plan creation rates, and other maternal outcomes

Each participating facility must submit a report within one year after the pilot program ends with recommendations for tool improvements and statewide implementation