[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 46 (Thursday, March 14, 2024)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2414-S2415]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         SUBMITTED RESOLUTIONS

                                 ______
                                 

SENATE RESOLUTION 588--RECOGNIZING MARCH 14, 2024, AS ``BLACK MIDWIVES 
                                 DAY''

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

                              S. Res. 588

       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

[[Page S2415]]

     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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