Personal history of perinatal problems

This code signifies a patient's past medical history of conditions or complications that arose during the perinatal period (typically from 22 weeks gestation through 28 days after birth). It indicates that while the acute perinatal issue has resolved, it remains a relevant part of the patient's health record due to potential long-term implications or for risk assessment.

Use this code when documenting a patient's history of conditions such as prematurity, low birth weight, birth trauma, neonatal infections, or other significant issues experienced around the time of birth. This is appropriate when the perinatal problem itself is no longer active but is pertinent to the current encounter, for example, when evaluating developmental delays or chronic conditions potentially linked to perinatal events.

• Assign this code as a secondary diagnosis to provide additional context for the patient's overall health status.
• Do not use this code for active perinatal conditions; those would be coded with specific codes from Chapter 15 or 16 of ICD-9-CM.
• Ensure documentation clearly specifies the nature of the past perinatal problem to support the use of this general history code.