YourVoice.Now Summary
Your MoneyWorkers & JobsTransparency & AccountabilityUp to $15 million a year each for two grant programs to train more midwives, doulas, and birth nurses.
Your Money
Nursing schools could get grants to pay scholarships for students becoming nurse-midwives, or nurse practitioners and clinical nurse specialists focused on pregnancy and birth. Grants last up to 5 years, with up to $15 million a year from 2027 through 2031.
Workers & Jobs
Schools could get grants to start or grow accredited programs for midwives, doulas and other birth support workers, and physician assistants trained in birth care. The money could also pay for scholarships, with up to $15 million a year from 2027 through 2031.
Both grant programs would favor schools that recruit and keep students and teachers from racial and ethnic minority groups. Current law defines these groups as American Indians and Alaska Natives, Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, Black people, and Hispanic people.
Schools would get priority if every student in the program takes a course on bias, racism, or discrimination, including implicit bias. Each year, schools must report whether they teach it.
Schools would get priority if their students plan to work where the government has found too few health workers. Nursing schools could also qualify by placing students in clinics in those areas.
Transparency & Accountability
The National Institutes of Health would study care that respects a patient's culture and language. Its public report would name hospitals, birth centers, and insurers doing this well, and those closing racial gaps in birth outcomes.
More about this bill
More people could train as midwives, doulas, and maternity nurses with help from two new federal grant programs. Each program could get up to $15 million a year from 2027 through 2031. One would help schools start or grow training for midwives, doulas, and physician assistants who work in birth care. The other would give nursing schools money for scholarships. Those go to students becoming nurse-midwives or other advanced nurses who focus on pregnancy and birth. Schools that recruit students from racial and ethnic minority groups would get first look at the money. So would schools whose students plan to work where health workers are scarce. Schools in places where birth outcomes differ sharply by race would also get priority. Schools that teach every student about implicit bias and racism would move up the line too. Each school must report every year on its students and where they go to work. Within two years, the health department (HHS) would send states advice on building mixed maternity care teams. The advice covers adding midwives, doulas, and lactation consultants to care teams. It also covers hiring staff from diverse backgrounds. It is advice only, so hospitals and insurers would not have to follow it. The National Institutes of Health would publish a study of hospitals giving care that fits a patient's culture and language. Congress's watchdog (GAO) would report on barriers to these jobs every five years. If you are pregnant, your coverage and bills would not change directly.
Congressional Summary
Perinatal Workforce Act This bill establishes programs and requires research to diversify the perinatal workforce and advance respectful maternal care delivery models. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants to education and training programs to grow and diversify the professions that make up the perinatal workforce. HHS must also disseminate guidance on respectful maternal care delivery. This guidance must cover, among other topics, recruiting and retaining maternity care providers from diverse backgrounds and incorporating trained midwives and other perinatal health workers into maternity care teams. In addition, the National Institutes of Health must study best practices for culturally and linguistically congruent maternity care. This is care that is in agreement with the preferred cultural values, beliefs, languages, worldview, and practices of health care consumers and other stakeholders. The Government Accountability Office must also report on certain aspects of perinatal health care professions. The report must focus on barriers to entering those professions for low-income and minority women.
Details
- Congress
- 119th
- Chamber
- Senate
- Status
- summarized
- Action
- Introduced in Senate
- Action Date
- 2026-03-25
- Date Added
- 2026-10-03
- Source
- Congress.gov →
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