NACPM was most pleased to be back on Capitol Hill last week on July 13th to co-host a lunch Briefing for Congressional staff with the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM) and the American Association of Birth Centers, in conjunction with Congresswomen Lucille Roybal-Allard (D-CA-40th) and Katherine Clark (D-MA-5th) and the Black Maternal Health Caucus: “Solutions for Scaling Up and Maximizing Evidence-Based Midwifery and Birth Center Care in the U.S.” The panel of presenters was made up of thought leaders from the three sponsoring organizations and from the National Partnership for Women and Families, sharing information about two pieces of bi-partisan legislation that NACPM helped to develop and introduce in Congress, the Midwives for MOMS Act (HR 3352) and the BABIES Act (HR 3337). These bills offer solutions to address the perinatal health crisis and improve childbirth outcomes. The panel’s request to Congress was for additional bipartisan co-sponsors for both bills and to hold a Congressional briefing on these two pieces of legislation.

NACPM is especially grateful to the original bipartisan sponsors of both bills: Representatives Lucille Roybal-Allard, (D-CA-40), Jaimie Herrera Beutle (R-WA-3), Katherine Clark (D-MA-5), and Ashley Hinson (R-IA-1), to Senators Ben Ray Lujan (D-NM) and Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) for introducing Midwives for MOMS in the Senate, and to Senator Lujan for introducing the BABIES Act in the Senate.

NACPM invited Wendy Gordon, DM, MPH, CPM, LM, Chair and Associate Professor in the Department of Midwifery at Bastyr University in Washington State, and Azalea Salter, first-year student in the Master of Science in Midwifery Program at Bastyr University and SDS scholarship recipient, to present their story of how federal funding from their grant from the Scholarships for Disadvantaged Students Program (SDS) is making a tremendous difference in the University’s ability to attract and retain the most diverse group of student midwives ever enrolled – and how permanent federal funding for midwifery education with the passage of the Midwives for MOMS Act will be a game changer in growing a diverse, representational midwifery workforce to meet the needs of childbearing people in the U.S.

NACPM worked with Congress to help develop and introduce the Midwives for MOMS Act in the current Congress in both chambers of the legislature. This bipartisan legislation will establish two new funding streams for midwifery education, one in the Title VII Health Professions Training Programs to fund schools that include our MEAC-accredited schools, and one in Title VIII Nursing Workforce Development Programs. The bill addresses the significant lack of diversity in the perinatal care workforce by focusing on students from minority or disadvantaged communities. Grants under these programs would be awarded for direct student scholarships, for growing and expanding midwifery training programs, and to support, grow, and strengthen the preceptor workforce.

The BABIES Act will build off the Strong Start initiative creating a demonstration payment program under Medicaid for freestanding birth centers. The legislation provides guidance to develop a prospective payment system that would foster sustainability for the birth center model.

We Need Your Help to Pass These Bills!

Please reach out to your Congress member today and urge them to co-sponsor H.R. 3352, the Midwives for MOMS Act of 2021.

Here is an advocacy sheet you can use in making your calls.

Find your Congress members here.

Click here for specific support in navigating to your Representative’s contact information and making your call.

Please let NACPM know of any response you receive from your Congress members as a result your call – positive or negative – by writing to us at mlawlor@nacpm.org or calling 917-453-6780.

Thank you!