Maryland Perinatal System Standards

The Maryland Perinatal System Standards were originally developed in 1995-1998 by a Department of Health and Mental Hygiene advisory committee as a set of voluntary standards for Maryland hospitals providing obstetrical and neonatal services. The Standards have been incorporated into the regulations for designation of perinatal referral centers by the Maryland Institute of Emergency Medical Services Systems (MIEMSS) , as well as the Maryland Health Care Commission’s State Plan regulations for obstetrical units and neonatal intensive care units.

In 2008, the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene reconvened its Perinatal Clinical Advisory Committee, a multidisciplinary committee representing 19 Maryland professional organizations, to review and update the Standards. The revisions to the Standards are made in order to be consistent with the latest edition of the Guidelines for Perinatal Care, which is issued jointly by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) Committee on Fetus and Newborn and the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) Committee on Obstetric Practice as well as the AAP 2004 Policy Statement on Levels of Neonatal Care. The Perinatal Clinical Advisory Committee is reconvened and revisions to the Maryland Standards are completed every 5 years.

Maryland Perinatal System Standards (October 2008)

For questions regarding the Maryland Perinatal System Standards, you may contact:

S. Lee Woods, MD, PhD
410-767-6713
SLWoodsMD@dhmh.state.md.us