SB258: SB258 Access to Midwife-led Birth Centers Grant Program; establish

Georgia currently has an older, narrower law governing midwifery practice. This bill would repeal that law entirely and replace it with two new systems. First, it creates the Access to Midwife-led Birth Centers Grant Program inside the Department of Public Health, which would award competitive grants to organizations that run birth centers or provide prenatal, birth, and postpartum care, including money to build new birth centers in counties that lack one. Second, it creates a new licensing framework for midwives under a new Georgia Licensed Midwife Act in Title 43, run by a six-member Advisory Board for Licensed Midwives appointed by the Governor. The licensing chapter spells out who can call themselves a licensed midwife, what training and background checks are required, what disclosures midwives must give clients, what medical tasks licensed midwives can perform, and what discipline (fines, suspension, revocation) the board can impose. It also requires health insurers, including Medicaid, to cover and reimburse midwife-provided maternity care at the same rate as other providers. The act would take effect once the Governor signs it or it becomes law without a signature.

• Establishes the Access to Midwife-led Birth Centers Grant Program within the Department of Public Health to fund birth centers and maternal care services.
• Repeals Georgia's existing midwifery practice law (Chapter 26 of Title 31) and designates that chapter as reserved.
• Creates the Georgia Licensed Midwife Act, a new licensing and regulatory system for midwives under Title 43.
• Creates a six-member Advisory Board for Licensed Midwives, appointed by the Governor, to issue licenses, set standards, and discipline midwives.
• Requires health insurance plans and Medicaid to cover maternity care by licensed midwives and reimburse it at the same rate as other maternity providers.
• Makes it illegal to use the title 'licensed midwife' or the abbreviation 'L.M.' without a license issued under the new chapter, starting July 1, 2025.

Pregnant people and new parents seeking midwife-led care, midwives (certified nurse midwives and certified professional midwives) seeking licensure, organizations that run or plan to build birth centers, the Department of Public Health, a new Advisory Board for Licensed Midwives, and health insurers and Medicaid, which must cover midwife-provided maternity care.

Georgians in areas without easy access to obstetric care could gain funded options for midwife-led birth centers and clearer legal standards for midwifery practice. Insurers and Medicaid would have to pay midwives the same as other maternity providers, and midwives without a new state license could no longer use that title after July 1, 2025.

• Section 1 creates the grant program (O.C.G.A. § 31-2A-60 et seq.), letting the department contract with an outside agency to run applications, monitoring, and record-keeping for grants to birth centers.
• Grants cannot exceed 85 percent of a provider's prior-year revenue or 85 percent of the cost of building a new birth center (§ 31-2A-64).
• Providers must meet eligibility criteria including at least one year of midwife-led care experience and financial accountability standards (§ 31-2A-65) before receiving funds.
• The department must report annually to the General Assembly and publish a public report each year starting September 30, 2026, on funds received and disbursed (§ 31-2A-69).
• Section 2 repeals Georgia's existing Chapter 26 midwifery law entirely, leaving that chapter reserved for future use.
• Section 3 creates the Georgia Licensed Midwife Act (Title 43, Chapter 24B), setting licensing requirements including national certification, education, and criminal background checks (§ 43-24B-6).
• The Advisory Board for Licensed Midwives can fine violators between $100 and $500 per violation, or suspend, revoke, or deny licenses (§ 43-24B-9).
• Section 43-24B-16 bars health insurers and Medicaid from denying coverage for midwife-provided maternity care and requires equal reimbursement rates.

1. 2025-02-27Senate Read and Referred (Senate)
2. 2025-02-26Senate Hopper (Senate)

• Donzella James (D, SD-028)Primary sponsor

• midwifery licensing
• maternal health
• birth centers
• health insurance coverage
• rural health access