SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WAND) — A bill in the Illinois state capitol to raise awareness for premature baby care passed unanimously out of the House.
When a baby's birth weight is below 2.2 pounds, they could have developmental disabilities such as Down syndrome and cerebral palsy.
Under the plan, babies under this weight would be referred to Early Intervention services, which helps toddlers reach important developmental benchmarks such as walking or talking.
State Rep. Janet Yang Rohr (D-Naperville) said more families need to know they can access this service.
"The problem is that these families often don't know about these services," Yang Rohr said. "So this bill improves that early intervention process by requiring NICU staff to share information about these services and requires hospital staff to write a referral to these programs for families that are eligible."
The bill passed unanimously out of the House on a 116-0 vote. It now heads to the Senate floor, where lawmakers could talk about it in the coming weeks.
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