Midwives for MOMS Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1851 To address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportunities for midwives, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES JUNE 7, 2023 Mr. LUJA´N (for himself and Ms. MURKOWSKI) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Edu- cation, Labor, and Pensions A BILL To address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportuni- ties for midwives, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Midwives for Maxi- 4 mizing Optimal Maternity Services Act of 2023’’ or the 5 ‘‘Midwives for MOMS Act of 2023’’. 6 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1851 IS SEC. 2. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS. 1 (a) IN GENERAL.—Title VII of the Public Health 2 Service Act is amended by inserting after section 760 of 3 such Act (42 U.S.C. 294k) the following: 4 ‘‘SEC. 760A. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS. 5 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 6 to institutions of higher education (as defined in sub- 7 sections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the Higher Edu- 8 cation Act of 1965) for the following: 9 ‘‘(1) Direct support of students in an accredited 10 midwifery school or program. 11 ‘‘(2) Establishment or expansion of an accred- 12 ited midwifery school or program. 13 ‘‘(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support 14 for increasing the number of, qualified preceptors 15 for training the students of an accredited midwifery 16 school or program. 17 ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 18 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give spe- 19 cial consideration to any institution of higher education 20 that— 21 ‘‘(1) agrees to prioritize students who plan to 22 practice in a health professional shortage area des- 23 ignated under section 332; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1851 IS ‘‘(2) demonstrates a focus on increasing racial 1 and ethnic minority representation in midwifery edu- 2 cation. 3 ‘‘(c) RESTRICTION.—The Secretary shall not provide 4 any assistance under this section to be used with respect 5 to a midwifery school or program within a school of nurs- 6 ing (as defined in section 801). 7 ‘‘(d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to be 9 appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 10 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 11 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made 12 available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, 13 the Secretary shall use— 14 ‘‘(A) 50 percent for subsection (a)(1); 15 ‘‘(B) 25 percent for subsection (a)(2); and 16 ‘‘(C) 25 percent for subsection (a)(3).’’. 17 (b) DEFINITIONS.— 18 (1) MIDWIFERY SCHOOL OR PROGRAM.—Sec- 19 tion 799B(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act 20 (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(A)) is amended— 21 (A) by inserting ‘‘ ‘midwifery school or pro- 22 gram’,’’ before ‘‘and ‘school of chiropractic’ ’’; 23 (B) by inserting ‘‘a degree or certificate in 24 midwifery or an equivalent degree or certifi- 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1851 IS cate,’’ before ‘‘and a degree of doctor of chiro- 1 practic or an equivalent degree’’; and 2 (C) by striking ‘‘any such school’’ and in- 3 serting ‘‘any such school or program’’. 4 (2) ACCREDITED.—Section 799B(1)(E) of the 5 Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(E)) is 6 amended by inserting ‘‘or a midwifery school or pro- 7 gram,’’ before ‘‘or a graduate program in health ad- 8 ministration’’. 9 SEC. 3. NURSE-MIDWIVES. 10 Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act is amend- 11 ed by inserting after section 811 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 12 296j) the following: 13 ‘‘SEC. 812. MIDWIFERY EXPANSION PROGRAM. 14 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary may award grants 15 to schools of nursing for the following: 16 ‘‘(1) Direct support of students in an accredited 17 nurse-midwifery school or program. 18 ‘‘(2) Establishment or expansion of an accred- 19 ited nurse-midwifery school or program. 20 ‘‘(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support 21 for increasing the numbers of, preceptors at clinical 22 training sites to precept students training to become 23 certified nurse-midwives. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1851 IS ‘‘(b) SPECIAL CONSIDERATIONS.—In awarding 1 grants under subsection (a), the Secretary shall give spe- 2 cial consideration to any school of nursing that— 3 ‘‘(1) agrees to prioritize students who choose to 4 pursue an advanced education degree in nurse-mid- 5 wifery to practice in a health professional shortage 6 area designated under section 332; and 7 ‘‘(2) demonstrates a focus on increasing racial 8 and ethnic minority representation in nurse-mid- 9 wifery education. 10 ‘‘(c) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 11 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—To carry out this section, 12 there is authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 13 for the period of fiscal years 2024 through 2028. 14 ‘‘(2) ALLOCATION.—Of the amounts made 15 available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, 16 the Secretary shall use— 17 ‘‘(A) 50 percent for subsection (a)(1); 18 ‘‘(B) 25 percent for subsection (a)(2); and 19 ‘‘(C) 25 percent for subsection (a)(3).’’. 20 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:47 Jun 21, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1851.IS S1851 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS