Advocacy Alert, Midwives for MOMS 2023
Call your legislators and ask them to co-sponsor Midwives for MOMS!
The Midwives for Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services Act, Midwives for MOMS, H.R. 3768/S.1851. is a bipartisan bill which seeks to increase access to high quality, evidence-based midwifery providers by creating federal grant funding opportunities for accredited midwifery education programs with the goal of diversifying our nation's midwifery workforce.
In June 2023 the bill was reintroduced in the House by Representatives Ashley Hinson (R-IA) and Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), H.R. 3768 and in the Senate by Senator Ben Ray Luján (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK). It is an integral piece of the policy puzzle that seeks to improve our nation’s shameful maternal health system. Additional information/text is available here.
Background
Despite spending more than any other country for maternity care, the US ranks behind almost all other developed countries in childbirth outcomes for both parents and babies. According to the CDC, in 2021 about 1200 pregnant people died because of pregnancy or delivery complications, and 60% of these losses were preventable. The racial and geographic disparities in these statistics are appalling, and maternal mortality is just the tip of the iceberg. More than 50,000 people experience severe complications of pregnancy that adversely impact their health. Our infant mortality rates are higher than 33 other countries with similar resources, and we have made some of the slowest progress in the world in reducing stillbirth rates. Simultaneously, the U.S. is facing a growing shortage of trained maternity care providers, and the March of Dimes reports that more than 5 million women in the US currently live in a “maternity care desert,” an area where hospitals do not offer obstetric care, birthing services or specialized providers.
Decades of research have shown that midwives provide safe, satisfying, and cost-effective care, but compared to other countries they are vastly underused as providers. The Midwives for MOMS Act is designed to expand educational opportunities for midwives by establishing two new funding streams for midwifery education: one in the Title VII Health Professions Training Programs, and one in the Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs. Additionally, the bill will address the significant lack of diversity in the maternity care workforce by prioritizing students from minority or disadvantaged backgrounds.