Massachusetts passes bill expanding access to midwives

Gov. Maura Healey on Friday said she plans to sign a maternal health bill after it cleared the Massachusetts House and Senate. The bill would create a pathway for certified professional midwives, or CPMs, to become licensed in the state and would require the state health insurance plan, MassHealth, to cover midwifery services. CPMs receive training and accreditation through the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives to provide clinical prenatal, labor and delivery care for women experiencing low-risk pregnancies. Despite the training CPMs receive, only some states license and insure them. Other states only allow certified nurse-midwives—registered nurses who graduated from an accredited nurse-midwifery program—to provide prenatal care and attend births outside of a traditional hospital setting.

Have other states considered similar legislation? In June of last year, Iowa lawmakers approved a bill to license CPMs. Other states, including Georgia and Nevada, are considering similar legislation and midwives and advocates have tried to loosen restrictions on midwives around the country.

What else will the bill do? The legislation also aims to license lactation consultants and remove regulatory barriers to opening birth centers in the state. Massachusetts currently only has one birth center. Advocates such as the American Association of Birth Centers claim the facilities offer women with healthy pregnancies a more comfortable delivery, fewer interventions, and a lower cost compared to a hospital birth.

The bill would also establish a grant program to address maternal mental health, require insurers to cover postpartum depression screening and treatment, and expand the statewide postpartum home visit program.

Has there been any reaction to the bill? Massachusetts Citizens for Life, a pro-life group, has expressed its support for the bill. It will create additional options for pregnant women in the state, including options which are more affordable or better suited to families' needs, the group's president, Myrna Maloney Flynn, wrote in a statement to WORLD. She went on to applaud legislators from both parties, whom she said worked diligently to pass the bill, which she characterized as life-affirming legislation that prioritizes the best interests of women and their unborn children.

Dig deeper: Read my report in Relations about why women are choosing home births at the highest rate in 30 years.