Oversight Committee and Black Maternal Health Caucus Leaders Release New GAO Report Examining Maternal Health and Access to Midwife Care

Press Release

"Today's report sheds light on the various barriers to obtaining midwifery care and education despite the practice's significant benefits in improving maternal health outcomes. At a time when maternal death rates are rising across the country, increasing access to midwifery care is vital to keeping patients safe and thriving. It's evident from GAO's report that Congress must invest in affordable, high-quality education, and expand insurance coverage, including Medicaid to ensure midwives can offer the best possible care to patients regardless of race or income," said Ranking Member Jamie Raskin.

"Everyone deserves access to high-quality care and robust support during and after pregnancy, no matter where they live. But in too many communities across our country, families are struggling to access maternity care," said Rep. Lauren Underwood. "This report, which then-Chairwoman Carolyn Maloney and I commissioned, sheds light on the barriers that prevent families from accessing midwifery care, including coverage gaps and midwifery workforce shortages. Evidence shows that midwives provide personalized, high-quality care that leads to great outcomes for moms and babies, and we must advance legislation to ensure every family who wants a midwife can access one. The Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act makes historic investments to grow and diversify the midwifery and broader perinatal workforce, and Congress must pass this legislation immediately."

"Last week, we observed the International Day of the Midwife because they provide crucial care to mothers and newborns," said Rep. Alma Adams. "This report makes it clear midwives improve the quality of maternal care, improve maternal outcomes, and are an essential part of solving our country's maternal health crisis."

"This report confirms what so many mothers already know, we need more birthing professionals, like midwives, trained and certified to support families before, after, and during childbirth. As Chair of the CBC Health Braintrust and Co-Chair of the Maternity Care Caucus, I know that supporting and training midwives is key to improving maternal health outcomes and reducing racial bias in maternal care," said Rep. Robin Kelly. "Congress must take a comprehensive approach to address the maternal mortality crisis, which needlessly claims thousands of lives and disproportionately affects Black mothers. My legislation, the MOMMA'S Act, provides holistic solutions to the complex challenges that contribute to maternal mortality and explicitly includes workforce development provisions meant to support providers like midwives and doulas. We must act now; we cannot afford to wait."

"This report only validates the heartbreaking truth policymakers already knew-- over the pandemic, the effects of the Black maternal health crisis only worsened. Black mamas and our babies deserve to grow old, yet our loved ones continue to die at the hands of preventable policy failure," said Rep. Cori Bush. "Decades of policy violence must be met with future decades of investment in Black lives. I will continue to advance legislative action focused on ending this crisis and am grateful to have the support of my Democratic colleagues on the House Oversight and Accountability Committee, the Black Maternal Health Caucus, and the Equal Rights Amendment Caucus. Together we must prioritize the health and prosperity of all pregnant people."

"The rise in maternal mortality, especially among Black women, is inexcusable in one of the wealthiest nations on Earth," said Rep. Shontel Brown. "With American maternal mortality rates at their highest level since 1965, and at a time when access to reproductive care is constantly under attack, it is imperative that we acknowledge and urgently address the disparities and inequities in maternal health. As a member of the Democratic Women's Caucus, Pro-Choice Caucus, and Black Maternal Health Caucus, I stand with my colleagues on the Oversight Committee in this necessary request to the Government Accountability Office."

"Representing Pittsburgh, where Black women are 3 times more likely to die from childbirth than white women and are more likely to die during pregnancy than in 97% of other cities, these findings make clear the atrocious reality of maternal health in this country and the bold action necessary to end the maternal mortality crisis," said Rep. Summer Lee. "Every mother deserves access to safe maternal and reproductive health services, and we must act with urgency because the lives of millions of babies and mothers depends on it."

"North Texas has one of the highest maternal health disparities in America. As representative for this region, I remain deeply concerned with how recent attacks on access to reproductive health impact the ongoing Black maternal health crisis in Texas and across the entire country," said Rep. Jasmine Crockett. "Oversight Committee Democrats commissioned this report because we believe that facts should guide our policy solutions to this crisis--not the other way around. If Republican lawmakers want to pass laws restricting mothers' access to life-saving care for miscarriage and pregnancy complications, then they should have to reckon with the consequences of their laws, particularly the loss of life for mothers, sisters, daughters, and friends. I hope my colleagues on both sides of the aisle will read this report with the intent to use its findings to address this crisis, rather than utilizing the extremist rhetoric and outright lies that have come to characterize the Republican attitude on reproductive care."

"More needs to be done to improve the maternal health care system, but these findings point us in the right direction to address this pressing issue," said Rep. Robert Garcia. "Midwifery has the power to transform maternal health outcomes in our communities. By expanding coverage for maternal care, investing in midwifery education programs, and strengthening the midwifery workforce, we can improve access to high-quality, patient-centered care that is tailored to the needs of everyone."

"As a lawmaker with a personal commitment to tackling the maternal health crisis, these findings are vital and lay bare the barriers that mothers, maternal health professionals and prospective providers face in providing and accessing care," said Rep. Gwen Moore. "Addressing these challenges is part of my mission. My legislation, including the Perinatal Workforce Act and the Mamas First Act, will diversify the pipeline of nurse midwives with federal grants and expand Medicaid to include doulas and midwives, which will help our maternal health care system better support mothers and their babies."

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