Cesarean Birth Requirement in OVERS
Change: Effective January 6, 2020, Cesarean births require an MD or DO designation for the Certifier/Attendant.
What This Means: Any birth record that is designated as 'Cesarean' in the 'Final Route and Method of Delivery' question will expect an attendant/certifier type of 'Doctor of Medicine' or 'Doctor of Osteopathy'. An override can be used for this field.
Printing Criteria for AOP Forms
Change: Effective January 6, 2020, The Voluntary Acknowledgement of Paternity form (AOP), in both the English and Spanish versions (45-31A, 45-31S), will only be available to print if specific criteria are met. Also, the mother's primary phone and facility information will auto-populate to the form.
What This Means: There are two requirements that must be met to print an AOP form. The first is that 'No' must be selected on the marital status question 'Was Mother Married at Conception, at Birth or within 300 days prior to Birth'. The other is that the birth must be within five days of entering the record. If these conditions are not met, the form will not be available to print. The mother's primary phone number and the name of the hospital or facility name and city will auto-populate the form from the information provided in the birth record.
Required Training for OVERS Access
Training Package for Midwives, Birth Information Specialists and Managers
All birth information specialists and midwives are required to complete both the Center for Health Statistics Training and the National Training. Certificates verifying completion of these trainings will be required before a new OVERS account can be created.
Date: January 2023
Topic: Required BIS and Midwife Training Package 2023
- Review the presentation and print the certificate: BIS Training 2023: Oregon laws and policies for reporting births and fetal deaths (pdf)
- Watch and listen to a prerecorded demonstration of entering a report into the OVERS system. To view the demonstration, you must view it in either Microsoft Edge or Chrome.
- Complete the course, take the assessment, and print the certificate for “Applying Best Practices for Reporting Medical Health Information on Birth Certificates". This course is offered by the CDC and must be taken using either Chrome or the Microsoft Edge internet browser. Step-by-step directions on how to access the certificate for this training can be found here.
This course can also be taken for continuing education from the CDC continuing education website at
https://tceols.cdc.gov/home/steps. The complete instructions for taking the course and printing the certificate can be found here. (
Instructions for Applying Best Practices Training)The Health Licensing Office of Oregon approved the "Applying Best Practices for Reporting Medical and Health Information on Birth Certificates" training as acceptable Continuing Education (CEUs) for Licensed Direct Entry Midwives (LDMs).
Past Webinars and Trainings
Date: July 2018
Topic: Birth Information Specialist Training Package
Date: August 2017
Topic: Acknowledgment of Paternity Overview
Date: February 2017
Topic: Monthly Birth Report
Date: April 2017
Topic: Error Report
Date: May 2017
Topic: Fetal Death Reporting
AOP Functionality
Change: Effective December 31, 2018, the Acknowledgment of Paternity form (AOP)(45-31) can be populated from OVERS in both English and Spanish.
What This Means: Birth Information Specialists have the option to auto populate the AOP form in OVERS. By selecting Yes on the Paternity Information dropdown list, the Father and Father Attribute pages will appear. The AOP form will populate from the mother and father pages. The form can then be printed, signed and dated by the parents and witnessed by hospital staff. The rights and responsibilities will also print.
This new auto populate feature enhances the accuracy of records, decreases AOP processing time and eliminates the need to order AOP forms from the state.
Use of this functionality is not mandatory. Facilities may continue to use the paper Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity form with their current processes as they choose.
Our
Quick Reference Guide for AOP (pdf) provides a step-by-step guidance.
Birth Module Functionality in OVERS
We have released our new birth module functionality in OVERS.
Change: Effective December 17, 2018. There is a new section called
Parental Description on Birth Certificate on the
Marital Status page of the
Birth Registration Menu. This section includes a dropdown list with the directions to, "Select parental description on the child's birth certificate." If the field is left blank, the system will produce a red edit when you click the
Validate Page button. You will not be able to sign the record until the information is corrected.
Our
Parental Description on Birth Certificate Guide provides a step-by-step guidance.
Birth Edits in OVERS
We have released our new birth edits in OVERS.
Change: Effective September 10, 2018, new edits will trigger when filling out information on the birth module. These edits have been added to improve data quality. Four new edits will appear in the birth module under the Facility section.
Our Quick Reference Guideline for new birth edits (pdf) on birth records provides a step-by-step guidance.
Reminder: Effective June 1, 2018 new soft (yellow) edits will trigger when filling out information on the birth module. These edits will appear in the birth module under the Mother's Health section.
Our
Quick Reference Guideline for new birth edits (pdf) on birth records provides a step-by-step guidance.
Sex Designation Functionality
We have released our new sex designation functionality in OVERS.
Change: Effective April 16, 2018, OVERS has new options for sex designation. The selections of Female, Male and Unknown are the same, but you will also see X. X, indicating nonbinary, has been added to include individuals who are not exclusively male or female. X will be an option in the sex drop-down on the birth and death search screens. You can leave this field blank if you are unsure of the sex of the individual when completing a search.
Updated instructions and worksheets are available below.
Our
Quick Reference Guide for sex designation on birth records provides step-by-step guidance.
Frequently Asked Questions About New OVERS Functionality
Q: What do I tell family members about the new sex designation options on the birth record?
Starting April 16, 2018, the sex designation on the birth record includes the following categories:
Undetermined is used in cases where the sex cannot be determined due to a medical condition.
X is a new sex designation on the birth record. X, indicating nonbinary, has been added to include individuals who are not exclusively male or female.
Parents can make the decision to have their child’s sex be X on the birth record.
Q: Will federal agencies accept the child’s birth certificate with the sex designation as X?
This is a new process and we are unsure if other agencies will accept X on a birth certificate. Parents will have to go directly to a Social Security office to get a Social Security card for their baby. Automatic generation of a Social Security Number by registering the birth will not occur because only Male and Female are accepted by the Social Security Administration electronically.
It is not currently possible to have X as sex on a U.S. Passport.
Q: Why is this information collected on the birth record?
The sex designation of the baby is collected for two primary purposes. First, the establishment of identity and relationships. This includes not only the child’s name, date of birth, sex and place of birth, but also the parents’ names, dates of birth and places of birth. Second, data from birth records are used to generate statistics, analyze health trends, guide program planning and direct policy development. X, indicating nonbinary, is now an option to include individuals who are not exclusively male or female.
Instructions and Worksheets
Instructions for Completing Reports of Birth
Information Worksheets
All facilities are required to use the below versions of the information worksheets. If you would like to create versions that display your facility's logo, they must be preapproved by the State Registrar. Email
CHS.PartnerServices@oha.oregon.gov for information about this process.
Additional Instructions and Forms
Information on Voluntary Acknowledgment of Paternity
Information on Home Births
Social Security Number Request Process
Please visit our
Social Security Enumeration at Birth webpage for instructions and frequently asked questions about requesting a social security number for an infant at birth.