[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. Res. 588 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
S. RES. 588

         Recognizing March 14, 2024, as ``Black Midwives Day''.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             March 14, 2024

    Mr. Booker (for himself and Ms. Butler) submitted the following 
 resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, 
                          Labor, and Pensions

_______________________________________________________________________

                               RESOLUTION


 
         Recognizing March 14, 2024, as ``Black Midwives Day''.

Whereas recognizing March 14, 2024, as ``Black Midwives Day'' underscores the 
        importance of midwifery in helping to achieve better maternal health 
        outcomes by addressing fundamental gaps in access to high-quality care 
        and multiple aspects of well-being;
Whereas the Black Midwives Day campaign, founded in 2023 and led by the National 
        Black Midwives Alliance, establishes March 14th as Black Midwives Day as 
        a day of awareness, activism, education, and community building;
Whereas March 14, 2024, is intended to increase attention on the state of Black 
        maternal health in the United States, the root causes of poor maternal 
        health outcomes for Black birthing people, and the need for community-
        driven policies, programs, and care solutions;
Whereas the United States is experiencing a maternity care desert crisis in 
        which 2,200,000 women of childbearing age live in maternity care deserts 
        where they do not have access to hospitals or birth centers offering 
        maternity care or obstetric providers;
Whereas maternity care deserts lead to higher risks of maternal morbidity and 
        mortality as most complications occur in the postpartum period when 
        birthing people are far away from their providers;
Whereas incorporating midwives fully into the maternity care system in the 
        United States would reduce maternal health disparities and help to 
        address the maternity care desert crisis;
Whereas, despite the medicalization of childbirth in the United States, the 
        maternal mortality rates in the United States are among the highest in 
        high-income countries, increasing rapidly and disproportionately higher 
        among Black birthing people;
Whereas maternal health is intractably linked to infant health, as the United 
        States infant mortality rate rose 3 percent from a rate of 5.44 infant 
        deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 5.60 infant deaths per 1,000 
        live births in 2022, the largest increase in the infant mortality rate 
        in 2 decades;
Whereas Black birthing people in the United States suffer from life threatening 
        pregnancy complications, known as ``maternal morbidities'', twice as 
        often as White birthing people;
Whereas deaths from maternal morbidities have devastating effects on Black 
        children and families, and the vast majority of material morbidities are 
        entirely preventable through assertive efforts to ensure that Black 
        birthing people have access to information, services, and supports to 
        make their own health care decisions, particularly around pregnancy and 
        childbearing;
Whereas the high rates of maternal mortality among Black birthing people span 
        across income levels, education levels, and socioeconomic statuses;
Whereas structural racism, gender oppression, and the social determinants of 
        health inequities experienced by Black birthing people in the United 
        States significantly contribute to the disproportionately high rates of 
        maternal mortality and morbidity among Black birthing people;
Whereas Black birthing people are more likely to report experiences of 
        disrespect, abuse, and neglect when birthing in facility-based settings 
        as compared to White people;
Whereas Black families benefit from access to Black midwives to receive 
        culturally sensitive and congruent care established through trust and 
        respect backed with the wisdom of time-honored techniques and best 
        practices;
Whereas the work and contributions of past and present midwives who have ushered 
        in new life have done so despite a history fraught with persecution, 
        enslavement, violence, racism, and the systematic erasure of traditional 
        and lay Black midwives throughout the 20th century;
Whereas the decline of midwifery across the southern United States reduced the 
        numbers of Black midwives from thousands to dozens throughout the 20th 
        century, leaving many communities without care providers;
Whereas some States have criminalized and suppressed direct-entry midwives, 
        despite rising maternal mortality rates across the United States;
Whereas the resurgence of Black midwifery is a testament to the resilience, 
        resistance, and determination of spirit in the preservation of healing 
        modalities that are practiced all over the world;
Whereas the focus of Black midwifery on holistic care, which involves caring for 
        the whole person, family and community, is what makes a difference in 
        midwifery;
Whereas midwifery honors the right to bodily autonomy for the birthing person 
        and can be facilitated at home, in a birth center, or hospital by 
        working in tandem with doulas, community health workers, obstetricians, 
        pediatricians, and other maternal, reproductive, and perinatal health 
        care providers;
Whereas the Midwifery Model of Care has been proven to have better pregnancy 
        outcomes, including by reducing infant mortality and morbidity, preterm 
        births, reducing medical interventions, and providing the birthing 
        person continuous support;
Whereas, in 2022, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
        (referred to in this preamble as ``CERD'') of the United Nations 
        expressed concerns regarding the impact of systemic racism and 
        intersecting factors on access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive 
        health services for women, and the limited availability of culturally 
        sensitive and respectful maternal health care, particularly for those 
        with low incomes, rural residents, individuals of African descent, and 
        indigenous communities;
Whereas CERD recommended that the United States further develop policies and 
        programs to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the field of 
        sexual and reproductive health and rights, while integrating an 
        intersectional and culturally respectful approach in order to reduce the 
        high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity affecting racial and 
        ethnic minorities, including through midwifery care;
Whereas, in 2023, the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations expressed 
        similar concerns as CERD and further recommended that the United States 
        take measures to remove restrictive and discriminatory legal and 
        practice barriers to midwifery care, including those affecting Black and 
        indigenous peoples;
Whereas a fair distribution of resources, especially with regard to reproductive 
        health care services, is critical to closing the racial disparity gap in 
        maternal health outcomes;
Whereas an investment must be made in robust, quality, and comprehensive health 
        care for Black birthing people, with policies that support and promote 
        affordable and holistic maternal health care that is free from gender 
        and racial discrimination;
Whereas it is fitting and proper on Black Midwives Day to recognize the 
        tremendous impact of the human rights, reproductive justice, and birth 
        justice frameworks have on protecting and advancing the rights of Black 
        birthing people;
Whereas Black Midwives Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the fight to end 
        maternal mortality locally, nationally, and globally; and
Whereas Congress must mitigate the effects of systemic and structural racism to 
        ensure that all Black people have access to midwives, doulas, and other 
        community-based, culturally matched perinatal health providers: Now, 
        therefore, be it
    Resolved, That the Senate--
            (1) recognizes March 14, 2024, as ``Black Midwives Day'';
            (2) encourages the Federal Government and State and local 
        governments to take proactive measures to address racial 
        disparities in maternal health outcomes by supporting 
        initiatives aimed at diversifying the perinatal workforce, 
        increasing access to culturally congruent maternal health care;
            (3) commits to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to 
        develop and enact policy solutions that promote health equity, 
        address systemic racism, and support the advancement of Black 
        midwifery;
            (4) calls for increased funding for education, training, 
        and mentorship programs that focus on promoting and sustaining 
        Black midwifery across all training pathways;
            (5) encourages the Federal Government and State and local 
        governments to authorize the autonomous practice of all 
        midwives to the full extent of their training;
            (6) promotes TRICARE and Medicaid coverage of maternity 
        care provided by midwives of all training pathways in the 
        setting of choice of the birthing person; and
            (7) supports and recognizes the longstanding and invaluable 
        contributions of Black midwives to maternal and infant health 
        in the United States.
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