Z38.00
Single liveborn infant, delivered vaginally
This code does not map to a risk-adjusting HCC in the loaded models.
Coding notes
Excludes 1 never coded together · Excludes 2 may co-exist
Single liveborn infant, born in birthing center or other health care facility
This category is for use as the principal code on the initial record of a newborn baby. It is to be used for the initial birth record only. It is not to be used on the mother's record.
Z codes represent reasons for encounters. A corresponding procedure code must accompany a Z code if a procedure is performed. Categories Z00-Z99 are provided for occasions when circumstances other than a disease, injury or external cause classifiable to categories A00-Y89 are recorded as 'diagnoses' or 'problems'. This can arise in two main ways: (a) When a person who may or may not be sick encounters the health services for some specific purpose, such as to receive limited care or service for a current condition, to donate an organ or tissue, to receive prophylactic vaccination (immunization), or to discuss a problem which is in itself not a disease or injury. (b) When some circumstance or problem is present which influences the person's health status but is not in itself a current illness or injury.
Official Guidelines for Z38.00
FY 2026 ›Sections that reference Z38.00
- I.C.16.a.2)Principal Diagnosis for Birth RecordChapter 16
When coding the birth episode in a newborn record, assign a code from category Z38, Liveborn infants according to place of birth and type of delivery, as the principal diagnosis. …
- I.C.16.b.2)Z05 on other than the birth recordChapter 16
… Z05 may also be assigned as a principal or first- listed code for readmissions or encounters when the code from category Z38 code no longer applies. …
- I.C.16.b.3)Z05 on a birth recordChapter 16
A code from category Z05 is to be used as a secondary code after the code from category Z38, Liveborn infants according to place of birth and type of delivery.
- I.C.16.hCOVID-19 Infection in NewbornChapter 16
… viral diseases, and U07.1, COVID-19. When coding the birth episode in a newborn record, the appropriate code from category Z38, Liveborn infants according to place of birth and type of delivery, should be assigned as the principal diagnosis.
- I.C.17Chapter 17: Congenital malformations, deformations, and chromosomal abnormalities (Q00-QA1)Chapter 17
… provider, it is appropriate to assign a code from codes Q00-QA1. For the birth admission, the appropriate code from category Z38, Liveborn infants, according to place of birth and type of delivery, should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis, followed …
- I.C.21.c.6)Observation
… Also, when the principal diagnosis is required to be a code from category Z38, Liveborn infants according to place of birth and type of delivery, then a code from category Z05, Encounter for observation …
Showing 6 of 12. Search the guidelines for Z38. Sections whose FY 2026 text names Z38.00, its Z38 category, or a range containing it — the chapter guidance above is the authoritative source.
Find Z38.00 in the alphabetic index
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