H.Res. 1120

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H. Res. 1120 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. RES. 1120

Supporting the recognition of March 14, 2026, as ``Black Midwives Day'' 
and the longstanding and invaluable contributions of Black midwives to 
maternal and infant health in the United States.

_______________________________________________________________________

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

March 17, 2026

Ms. Moore of Wisconsin (for herself, Ms. Adams, and Ms. Underwood) 
submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee 
on Energy and Commerce, and in addition to the Committee on Armed 
Services, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in 
each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the 
jurisdiction of the committee concerned

_______________________________________________________________________

RESOLUTION

Supporting the recognition of March 14, 2026, as ``Black Midwives Day'' 
and the longstanding and invaluable contributions of Black midwives to 
maternal and infant health in the United States.

Whereas recognizing March 14, 2026, as ``Black Midwives Day'' underscores the 
importance of midwifery in helping to achieve better maternal health 
outcomes by addressing fundamental gaps in access to high-quality care 
and multiple aspects of well-being;
Whereas the Black Midwives Day campaign, founded and led by the National Black 
Midwives Alliance in 2023, is a day of awareness, activism, education, 
and community building;
Whereas March 14, 2026, is intended to increase attention for the state of Black 
maternal health in the United States, the root causes of poor maternal 
health outcomes, and for community-driven policy, program, and care 
solutions;
Whereas the United States is experiencing a maternity care desert crisis in 
which more than 2,300,000 women of childbearing age live in maternity 
care deserts where they have no hospital offering obstetric care, no 
birth center, and no obstetric clinic;
Whereas maternity care deserts lead to higher risks of maternal morbidity and 
mortality as most complications occur in the postpartum period when 
patients are far away from their providers;
Whereas midwife-led care has been shown to result in cost savings, reduced 
medical interventions, lower cesarean rates, decreased preterm births, 
and improved health outcomes for both mothers and infants;
Whereas midwives provide essential maternal healthcare services across diverse 
settings, including homes, communities, hospitals, birth centers, 
clinics, and health units, ensuring accessibility and continuity of 
care;
Whereas increasing the number of Black midwives in the workforce is critical to 
addressing maternal health disparities, as Black midwives offer 
culturally competent care that builds trust, enhances maternal 
satisfaction, and improves health outcomes for Black mothers and their 
infants;
Whereas incorporating midwives fully into the United States maternity care 
system would reduce maternal health disparities and address the 
maternity care desert crisis;
Whereas, despite the medicalization of childbirth in the United States, the 
maternal mortality rates in the United States are among the highest in 
the developed world and disproportionately higher among Black women;
Whereas Black women in the United States are at a significantly higher risk of 
suffering from life threatening pregnancy complications, known as 
``maternal morbidities'', than White women;
Whereas deaths from maternal morbidities have devastating effects on Black 
children and families, and the vast majority of material morbidities are 
entirely preventable through assertive efforts to ensure that Black 
women have access to information, services, and supports to make their 
own health care decisions, particularly around pregnancy and 
childbearing;
Whereas, according to the 2024 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 
Report, the maternal mortality rate for Black women in the United States 
was 44.8 deaths per 100,000 live births, compared to the rates observed 
for--

(1) White women, with a rate of 14.2 deaths per 100,000 live births;

(2) Hispanic women, with a rate of 12.1 deaths per 100,000 live births; 
and

(3) Asian women, with a rate of 18.1 deaths per 100,000 live births;

Whereas the high rates of maternal mortality among Black women span across 
income levels, education levels, and socioeconomic statuses;
Whereas structural racism, gender oppression, and the social determinants of 
health inequities experienced by Black women in the United States 
significantly contribute to the disproportionately high rates of 
maternal mortality and morbidity among Black women;
Whereas Black women are more likely to report experiences of disrespect, abuse, 
and neglect when birthing in facility-based settings as compared to 
White people;
Whereas Black families benefit from access to Black midwives to receive 
culturally sensitive and congruent care established through trust and 
respect, backed with the wisdom of time-honored techniques and best 
practices;
Whereas the work and contributions of past and present midwives who have ushered 
in new life have done so despite a history fraught with persecution, 
enslavement, violence, racism, and the systematic erasure of traditional 
and lay Black midwives throughout the 20th century;
Whereas the decimation of midwifery across the southern United States reduced 
the numbers of Black midwives from thousands to dozens in a 50-year 
period from the 1920s to the 1970s, leaving many communities without 
care providers;
Whereas some States have criminalized and suppressed direct-entry midwives, 
despite rising maternal mortality rates across the United States;
Whereas the criminalization and overregulation of midwifery disproportionately 
impacts Black midwives and birthing families, exacerbating maternal 
health disparities and reducing access to culturally competent care;
Whereas the resurgence of Black midwifery is a testament to the resilience, 
resistance, and determination of spirit in the preservation of healing 
modalities that are practiced all over the world;
Whereas the focus on holistic care, which involves caring for the whole person, 
family, and community, is what makes a difference in midwifery;
Whereas midwifery honors the right to bodily autonomy of the birthing person and 
can be facilitated at home, in a birth center, or hospital, and works in 
tandem with doulas, community health workers, obstetricians, 
pediatricians, and other maternal, reproductive, and perinatal health 
care providers;
Whereas the Midwifery Model of Care has been proven to have better pregnancy 
outcomes through preventing infant mortality and morbidity, lowering 
preterm births, reducing medical interventions, and providing the 
birthing person continuous support;
Whereas, in 2022, the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination 
(referred to in this preamble as ``CERD'') of the United Nations 
expressed concerns regarding the impact of systemic racism and 
intersecting factors on access to comprehensive sexual and reproductive 
health services for women, and the limited availability of culturally 
sensitive and respectful maternal health care, particularly for those 
with low incomes, rural residents, individuals of African descent, and 
indigenous communities;
Whereas CERD recommended that the United States further develop policies and 
programs to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in the field of 
sexual and reproductive health and rights, while integrating an 
intersectional and culturally respectful approach in order to reduce the 
high rates of maternal mortality and morbidity affecting racial and 
ethnic minorities, including through midwifery care;
Whereas, in 2023, the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations expressed 
similar concerns as CERD and further recommended that the United States 
take measures to remove restrictive and discriminatory legal and 
practice barriers to midwifery care, including those affecting Black and 
indigenous peoples;
Whereas a fair distribution of resources, especially with regard to reproductive 
health care services, is critical to closing the racial disparity gap in 
maternal health outcomes;
Whereas an investment must be made in robust, quality, and comprehensive health 
care for Black women, with policies that support and promote affordable 
and holistic maternal health care that is free from gender and racial 
discrimination;
Whereas it is fitting and proper on Black Midwives Day to recognize the 
tremendous impact of the human rights, reproductive justice, and birth 
justice frameworks have on protecting and advancing the rights of Black 
women;
Whereas Black Midwives Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the fight to end 
maternal mortality locally and globally;
Whereas maternal health is intractably linked to infant health, and the United 
States infant mortality rate rose 3 percent from a rate of 5.44 infant 
deaths per 1,000 live births in 2021 to 5.60 infant deaths per 1,000 
live births in 2022, the largest increase in the infant mortality rate 
in 2 decades; and
Whereas Congress must mitigate the effects of systemic and structural racism to 
ensure that all Black people have access to midwives, doulas, and other 
community-based, culturally matched perinatal health providers: Now, 
therefore, be it
Resolved, That the House of Representatives--
(1) supports the recognition of ``Black Midwives Day'';
(2) encourages the Federal Government and State and local 
governments to take proactive measures to address racial 
disparities in maternal health outcomes by supporting 
initiatives aimed at diversifying the perinatal workforce, 
increasing access to culturally congruent maternal health care;
(3) commits to collaborating with relevant stakeholders to 
develop and enact policy solutions that promote health equity, 
address systemic racism, and support the advancement of Black 
midwifery;
(4) calls for--
(A) increased funding for education, training, and 
access to Black preceptors;
(B) removing barriers and restrictions to Black 
preceptors;
(C) providing financial pathways to support 
students and preceptors;
(D) mentorship programs that focus on promoting and 
sustaining Black midwifery; and
(E) removing barriers related to accreditation by 
recognizing midwives across all training pathways;
(5) encourages the Federal Government and State governments 
to authorize the autonomous practice of all midwives to the 
full extent of their training;
(6) promotes the authorization or reauthorization of 
funding for TRICARE and Medicaid coverage of maternity care 
provided by midwives of all training pathways;
(7) encourages the Federal Government and State and local 
governments to take active steps to destigmatize and 
decriminalize midwifery pathways in the setting of choice of 
the pregnant person, including their homes, birth centers, 
clinics, or health units; and
(8) supports and recognizes the longstanding and invaluable 
contributions of Black midwives to maternal and infant health 
in the United States.
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