This week the California Assembly approved legislation from Sen. Dodd, D-Napa, that clarifies existing law to ensure nurse midwives are able to continue to provide essential healthcare services before and after pregnancy.
This new legislation aims to enhance a mother and child’s well-being, especially in underserved communities.
“It is critical that we increase access to services of nurse midwives, who play an important role in delivering maternity care,” Dodd said in a news release. “This bill enhances the ability of these dedicated practitioners to provide essential services, eliminating red tape that is so often a barrier to healthy outcomes.”
In California, nurse midwives deliver 50,000 babies a year. To meet the demand, Dodd in 2020 wrote Senate Bill 1237 — increasing medical access for all women and birthing people, especially those in rural or inner-city settings. The bill was signed into law by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Senate Bill 667 builds upon the momentum in recent years to preserve and protect access to maternity care and abortion in the state. It aims to cut through redundant requirements that might otherwise limit a certified nurse midwife from practicing to the full extent of their scope and training as the original law intended.
SB 667, which is co-sponsored by the California Nurse-Midwives Association and the Black Women for Wellness Action Project, was approved by the Assembly Tuesday with overwhelming support. It heads next to Newsom following a Senate concurrence vote.
“In recent years, California has committed to reducing maternal mortality and morbidity, and especially to erasing racism-based disparities in maternal and infant outcomes,” said Paris Maloof-Bury, president of CNMA in the same release. “This bill continues the work of integrating community midwifery and hospital midwifery into the current system of care in order to ensure that access to maternity care, especially for those most in need, is not limited by geography, race, ethnicity, income level or any other health indicator.”