Sponsors (6)
Authorizes $35M (FY2025–FY2029) in HHS grants to expand midwifery and nurse‑midwifery education, student support, and clinical preceptor capacity with set allocation rules and priority for shortage areas and diversity.
The bill directs modest federal funds to expand midwifery training, prioritize deployment to shortage areas, and boost diversity and clinical training — improving access to maternal care for underserved communities — but funding is limited, eligibility rules may exclude some existing or community‑based programs, and administrative complexities could blunt its reach.
People in Health Professional Shortage Areas — especially rural and low-income communities — will likely get better access to maternal and midwifery care because the bill funds training and prioritizes deploying graduates to shortage areas.
Students enrolled in accredited midwifery and nurse‑midwifery programs will receive direct financial support (grants), reducing financial barriers to training.
Midwifery training capacity and clinical training sites (schools, hospitals, community settings) will be expanded as the bill funds establishment or growth of accredited programs, increasing the pipeline of qualified midwives.
Students, underserved communities, and the midwifery workforce may still be underserved because the total and annual funding levels authorized are modest (small appropriations/limited per‑year amounts) and likely insufficient to meet nationwide midwifery shortages — even while they add modest federal spending.
Institutions, community-based training programs, and some students could be excluded or face confusion because eligibility and funding rules are inconsistent (e.g., prohibiting funding for programs housed in schools of nursing while other provisions direct funds through schools of nursing), which may leave some existing programs or non‑academic pipelines without support.
Urban communities and other high‑need populations not captured by HPSA or minority‑recruitment priorities may be disadvantaged because the bill prioritizes placement and recruitment criteria that can exclude other forms of need.
Based on analysis of 3 sections of legislative text.
Official title: Address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportunities for midwives, and for other purposes.
Introduced May 5, 2025 by Ben Ray Luján · Last progress May 5, 2025
Creates two new HHS grant programs to grow the midwifery workforce by funding students, new/expanded midwifery programs, and clinical preceptor capacity. It authorizes $15 million (FY2025–2029) for midwifery schools/programs outside schools of nursing and $20 million (FY2025–2029) for nurse‑midwifery programs based in schools of nursing, with each program required to allocate annual funds 50% to student support, 25% to program expansion, and 25% to preceptor support and to prioritize practice in Health Professional Shortage Areas and increasing racial/ethnic minority representation. The bill also amends related statutory definitions to broaden coverage to include “programs” as well as “schools,” and includes a prohibition on funding midwifery schools/programs colocated within a school of nursing under the midwifery school grant program (while creating a separate grant stream specifically for schools of nursing).