This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Midwifery Workforce Training Act.

The Legislature finds and declares that maternity care providers are in short supply and maldistributed around the state, resulting in what the March of Dimes defines as “maternity care deserts” and “limited-access maternity care areas.” Many major counties are on track to have a critical shortage of maternity care providers by 2025. Maternity care is often the very first primary health care interaction, and the most common primary care interaction over the life of a woman and birthing person’s reproductive lifespan. Black and Native American individuals and other people of color in particular have significant difficulty in accessing maternity care and family planning services. Black women die from pregnancy-related causes at a rate of three to

four

times that of White women. Black infants are more than twice as likely to die in their first year as White infants. Access to quality care and resultant outcomes are intricately linked. Racial disparities in outcomes, especially, are connected in part to quality of and ability to access maternity care, especially by care providers whose care models elevate patient-centered, holistic, and culturally sensitive care. This kind of care is the hallmark of the midwifery model.

For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:

Statewide Health Planning and Development (OSHPD).

midwives.

train licensed midwives in accordance with the global standards for midwifery education and the international definition of “midwife” as established by the International Confederation of Midwives in order to increase the number of students receiving quality education and training as a certified nurse-midwife or as a licensed midwife.

diverse students, underrepresented groups, or people from underserved or historically marginalized communities.

required for the training programs by their respective state licensing and regulatory bodies that could inadvertently create an unnecessary barrier for training programs to obtain funding for the training of midwives in California.

be met through the award of funds.

and awarded by the office to eligible programs that train certified nurse-midwives or programs that train licensed midwives may be used by the training program to develop new initiatives, projects, or curriculum, or to expand existing initiatives, projects, or curriculum. Awarded funds may also be used for general support and sustainability of the overall training program, or to sustain specific components of the training program, including, but not limited to, tuition assistance for students, or support for preceptor recruitment, or to sustain preceptor training sites for students.

This article shall become operative on January 1, 2022.

for financial stability of midwifery education.