U.S. Department of Labor
Health Benefits Advisor for Employers
Glossary
Newborns' and Mothers' Health Protection Act (Newborns' Act)
The Newborns' Act is a Federal law that prohibits group health plans and insurance companies (including HMOs) that cover hospitalization in connection with childbirth from restricting a mother's or newborn's benefits for such hospital stays to less than 48 hours following a vaginal delivery or 96 hours following delivery by cesarean section, unless the attending doctor, nurse midwife or other licensed health care provider, in consultation with the mother, discharges earlier.
