[Code of Federal Regulations]
[Title 32, Volume 5]
[Revised as of July 1, 2005]
From the U.S. Government Printing Office via GPO Access
[CITE: 32CFR735.3]

[Page 373-374]
 
                       TITLE 32--NATIONAL DEFENSE
 
                   CHAPTER VI--DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY
 
PART 735_REPORTING BIRTHS AND DEATHS IN COOPERATION WITH OTHER AGENCIES
--Table of Contents
 
Sec. 735.3  Action.

    When a medical officer has knowledge of a birth or death occurring 
under the following conditions, he or she shall refer the matter to the 
commanding officer for assurance of compliance with DOD policy.
    (a) Births. (1) In accordance with local health laws and 
regulations, the commanding officer of a naval hospital in the United 
States (U.S.) shall report to proper civil authorities all births, 
including stillbirths, occurring at the hospital. Medical officers on 
ships and aircraft operating within U.S. political boundaries, or at 
stations other than naval hospitals in the U.S., shall report all births 
occurring within their professional cognizance. It shall be the duty of 
the medical officer to determine the requirements of local civil 
authorities for these reports.
    (2) When births occur on aircraft or ships operating beyond U.S. 
political boundaries, the medical officer responsible for delivery shall 
make a report to the commanding officer, master of the ship, or to the 
officer in command of any aircraft, in every case to be recorded in the 
ship or aircraft log. A report shall also be made to local civil 
authorities in the first port of entry if required by law and regulation 
of such authorities when births occur on a course inbound to the U.S. 
Additionally, the medical officer shall:
    (i) Furnish the parents with appropriate certificates and shall, if 
the report is not accepted by the local registrar of vital statistics or 
other civil authority, or in any case in which local authority has 
indicated in writing that such a report will not be accepted,
    (ii) Advise the parents to seek the advice of the nearest office of 
the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service (USINS), at the earliest 
practicable time. USINS offices are located in

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ports of entry and in major cities of the United States.
    (iii) For births occurring on courses out-bound and beyond the 
continental limits of the U.S., report to the U.S. consular 
representative at the next appropriate foreign port. When the aircraft 
or ship does not enter a foreign port, procedures described in Sec. 
735.3(a)(2)(ii) shall be followed.
    (3) Attention is invited to the fact that reports of birth may be 
forwarded to the Bureau of Health Statistics, Department of Health, 
Honolulu, Hawaii for any births occurring on courses destined for 
islands in the Pacific Ocean over which the United States has 
jurisdiction as well as for those births which are otherwise accepted by 
civil authorities for Hawaii.
    (4) Part 138 of this title prescribes policy, responsibilities, and 
procedures on birth registration of infants born to U.S. citizens, in 
military medical facilities outside the United States and its 
possessions.
    (b) Deaths. When a death occurs at a naval activity in any State, 
Territory, or insular possession of the United States, the commanding 
officer or designated representative shall report the death promptly to 
proper civil authorities in accordance with Naval Medical Command 
directives. If requested by these civil authorities, the civil death 
certificate may be prepared and signed by the cognizant naval medical 
officer. Local agreements concerning reporting and preparation of death 
certificates should be made between the naval facility and local civil 
authorities.

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