2027 ICD-10-CM Diagnosis Code Z37.9Outcome of delivery, unspecified
Z37.9 is a billable ICD-10-CM diagnosis code for outcome of delivery, unspecified. It is valid on HIPAA claims for fiscal year 2027 (October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027) and groups to MS-DRG 768, 796 through 798, 805 through 807, 951. The code is restricted by the Medicare Code Editor to maternity cases (age 9 through 64), not accepted as a principal diagnosis, and exempt from POA reporting. In AHRQ's Clinical Classifications Software (CCSR), this diagnosis falls under Maternal outcome of delivery.
Code Identity
Code Classification
Code EditsBilling
Medicare Code Editor checks that affect claim validity for Z37.9.
Present on Admission (POA)Billing
Z37.9 is exempt from POA reporting on inpatient claims to general acute care hospitals. Review the other POA exempt codes in Persons encountering health services in circumstances related to reproduction (Z30-Z39).
Approximate SynonymsGuidance
Alternate terms and clinical phrases that map to this code.
- Abdominal pregnancy
- Abnormal delivery
- Ambulance birth
- Bilateral lower limb vein thrombophlebitis
- Birth
- Birth details not known
- Born after induced labor
- Born after precipitate delivery
- Breech extraction - delivered
- Caul membrane over baby's head at delivery
- Cerebral venous sinus thrombosis in puerperium
- Cerebrovascular disorder in the puerperium
- Complete spontaneous rupture of fetal umbilical cord
- Consultant unit birth
- Delivered by low forceps delivery
- Delivered by mid-cavity forceps delivery
- Delivered by mid-cavity forceps with rotation
- Deliveries by cesarean
- Deliveries by destructive operation
- Deliveries by vacuum extractor
- Delivery by combination of forceps and vacuum extractor
- Delivery by elective cesarean section
- Delivery by emergency cesarean section
- Delivery of viable fetus in abdominal pregnancy
- Failure to progress in labor
- Fetal viability
- Finding of birth outcome
- Finding of completeness of placenta
- Finding of contents of cervix
- Finding of contents of uterus
- Forceps delivery - delivered
- Home birth
- Hospital birth
- Incomplete placenta at delivery
- Labor details
- Livebirth
- Low pressure headache
- Monozygotic twins
- Mother delivered
- Multiple birth
- Multiple delivery, all by forceps and vacuum extractor
- Multiple delivery, all spontaneous
- Neurological dysfunction due to obstetric fistula
- Obstetric problem affecting fetus
- Out-of-hospital birth
- Partial spontaneous rupture of fetal umbilical cord
- Past pregnancy history of delivery procedure
- Past pregnancy history of delivery with no details
- Past pregnancy history of full term delivery
- Phlebitis in puerperium
- Place of birth - finding
- Placental fragments at cervical os
- Placental fragments in uterus
- Planned home birth
- Post dural puncture headache
- Postpartum hemorrhage
- Postpartum hemorrhage with retained placenta
- Premature labor
- Preterm labor with preterm delivery
- Products of conception at uterine os cervix
- Quadruplet birth
- Quintuplet birth
- Retained placenta
- Retained placenta, without hemorrhage
- Retained placental fragment
- Retained products of conception with no hemorrhage
- Retained secundines
- Retained uterine membrane
- Retained uterine membrane without hemorrhage
- Retention of part of placenta and uterine membrane without hemorrhage
- Retention of part of placenta without hemorrhage
- Retention of placenta and uterine membrane
- Rupture of cord
- Sextuplet birth
- Spinal and epidural anesthesia-induced headache during labor and delivery
- Spontaneous rupture of fetal umbilical cord
- Term birth of multiple newborns
- Term birth of newborn
- Term birth of newborn female
- Term birth of newborn male
- Term birth of newborn triplets
- Term birth of newborn twins
- Term pregnancy delivered
- Thrombophlebitis in puerperium
- Thrombophlebitis of bilateral lower limbs in puerperium
- Triplet birth
- Unassisted birth
- Unplanned home birth
- Vacuum extractor delivery - delivered
- Varicose veins in puerperium
- Varicose veins of bilateral lower limbs
- Varicose veins of bilateral lower limbs in puerperium
- Varicose veins of genitalia in puerperium
- Varicose veins of perineum in puerperium
- Varicose veins of vulva
- Varicose veins of vulva in puerperium
- Viable fetus
- Viable fetus in abdominal pregnancy
Instructional NotesGuidance
Instructions from the official ICD-10-CM Tabular List that apply to Z37.9: its own notes plus those printed at Z37 and Chapter 21. A note printed at a category, block or chapter applies to every code under it.
Applicable To
Conditions this code is used for: synonyms of the title or, for "other specified" codes, the conditions assigned to it. The list is not exhaustive.
- Multiple birth NOS
- Single birth NOS
Excludes1
Not coded here: the excluded code is never reported together with this one, unless the two conditions are unrelated.
Notes
General instructions on how these codes are used.
- 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.
Source: CMS ICD-10-CM Tabular List. How to read instructional notes.
Index to Diseases and InjuriesGuidance
Alphabetical index entries that point to this code.
Outcome of delivery Z37.9
multiple births Z37.9
single NEC Z37.9
twins NEC Z37.9
Clinical ClassificationClinical
AHRQ’s CCSR groups this code into broader clinical categories.
Patient EducationClinical
Childbirth
Childbirth is the process of giving birth to a baby. It includes labor and delivery of the fetus and the placenta. The placenta is the organ that supplies food and oxygen through the umbilical cord to your fetus during pregnancy.
The full article covers:
- What is childbirth?
- How do I know if I'm going into labor?
- What are the stages of labor?
- What are the options for pain relief during childbirth?
Read the full article at MedlinePlus
Courtesy of MedlinePlus, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.
Convert Z37.9 to ICD-9-CMHistory
The closest ICD-9-CM equivalents under the General Equivalence Mappings.
Code HistoryHistory
Questions About Z37.9Overview
What is the ICD-10 code for outcome of delivery, unspecified?
The ICD-10-CM code for outcome of delivery, unspecified is Z37.9 (sometimes written as Z379). It is billable on HIPAA-covered claims from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
Is Z37.9 (Outcome of delivery) a billable code?
Yes. This is a billable ICD-10-CM code, specific enough to report outcome of delivery, unspecified on HIPAA-covered claims from October 1, 2026 through September 30, 2027.
What MS-DRG does Z37.9 group to?
On inpatient claims, outcome of delivery, unspecified maps to MS-DRG 798, 951, 797, 768, 805, 806, 796, 807, with relative weights from 0.5574 to 1.1809 depending on complications. Higher weights mean higher Medicare reimbursement.
Can Z37.9 be a principal diagnosis?
No. The Medicare Code Editor rejects this code as a principal diagnosis because outcome of delivery, unspecified describes a circumstance that influences health status rather than a current illness. Report it as a secondary diagnosis.
Who can Z37.9 be reported for?
The Medicare Code Editor checks outcome of delivery, unspecified against patient demographics: this code is intended for maternity cases (age 9 through 64). Claims outside these limits are flagged as inconsistent.
