News Blog — Bay State Birth Coalition

Maternal Health Organizations Applaud Governor Healey’s Report & Recommendations to Increase Access to Maternal Healthcare

American College of Nurse Midwives-MA, Bay State Birth Coalition, and Neighborhood Birth Center Thank Administration For Their Leadership & Urge Quick Implementation of Recommendations

Maternal health practitioners and reproductive rights supporters applaud Governor Healey’s release this week of reports and recommendations regarding the state of maternal health care and essential services in the Commonwealth. The recommendations laid out in the report, if implemented fully, would result in a marked increase in access to maternal health care across Massachusetts. We particularly thank the Administration for prioritizing the following critical recommendations: (1) Updated regulations governing birth centers to better align with national standards; (2) Equitable reimbursement for Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs); and (3) Support for integration of Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) into more pregnancy and birth care settings and coverage for such care in Massachusetts.

Emily AnestaNovember 21, 2023news

As Maternal Health Crisis Worsens, Advocates Host a “Rally for Midwives” & Advocacy Day at State House to Call for Expanded Access to Midwifery Care

**Massachusetts currently ranks in the bottom third of states for midwife integration. Midwives save lives!**

On October 5, maternal health and reproductive equity groups joined together at the State House to advocate for legislation to expand access to midwives in Massachusetts. Approximately one hundred parents, kids, midwives, nurses, students, community leaders, advocates, and legislators gathered for a powerful rally on the State House steps. Afterwards, supporters and lawmakers gathered inside the State House for a presentation and panel discussion on the value and importance of midwifery care.

Co-hosted by Neighborhood Birth Center, Bay State Birth Coalition, ACNM Massachusetts, NACPM Massachusetts, Reproductive Equity Now, MassNOW, ACLU, Our Bodies Ourselves, Mystic Valley Action for Reproductive Justice, City of Boston Office of Women’s Advancement, Birth Equity & Justice Massachusetts, Center for Black Maternal Health and Reproductive Justice at Tufts Medical School, and the Massachusetts PPD Fund.

Emily AnestaNovember 2, 2023news

Birth Center Week 2023

September 14-20, 2023 marks the first ever Birth Center Week, an event started by the national non-profit Birth Center Equity to "celebrate and elevate the impact and potential of birth centers, with a focus on community birth centers that provide safe, culturally-reverent, midwifery-led health care for all." We are celebrating Massachusetts birth centers past, present, and future.

Emily AnestaSeptember 20, 2023news, birth centers

Which legislators have cosponsored midwives and birth centers?

One way that State Representatives and State Senators in the Massachusetts legislature show support for policies is through cosponsorships. Once a bill or budget amendment is filed, legislators can sign on to cosponsor it. Check out our scorecard. Some items are now closed for cosponsorship (like House budget amendments for this year), but your legislators can still sign on to cosponsor bills if they haven’t already.

Emily AnestaJune 4, 2023

Budget Update: $1M for birth centers!

In May, the Massachusetts Senate passed a budget that included unprecedented state funding for birth centers. Senator Liz Miranda’s amendment passed unanimously to provide $1M for the development and operation of nonprofit freestanding birth centers like Neighborhood Birth Center and other community based maternal health organizations. In addition, $150K was allocated to Seven Sisters Birth Center to support their doula program. In August, Governor Maura Healey signed the budget into law.

budgetEmily AnestaMay 25, 2023news

Black Maternal Health Week conversations on Instagram Live

Follow us on Instagram @baystatebirth and check out our Reels to see the recordings of our Live conversations from Black Maternal Health Week.

A conversation with State Senator Liz Miranda
A conversation with State Representative Brandy Fluker Oakley
Discussion of the new art exhibit honoring the foremothers of gynecology with Lilly Marcelin of Resilient Sisterhood Project

Emily AnestaApril 19, 2023news

MassLive: Home birthing options limited due to lack of midwife licensing; This bill could change that

Tiffany Vassell, a labor and delivery nurse, left a Boston hospital two days early after giving birth to her son seven months ago, exhausted by what she described as inadequate care that forced the Black maternal health advocate to relentlessly protect her and her baby’s wellbeing.

As her unborn child went into distress for 10 minutes, Vassell herself watched the heart rate monitor, instructing a nurse to not increase a medication used to induce contractions.

And Vassell halted a frenzied recommendation about an emergency C-section, a procedure she later had to undergo to deliver her 10-pound baby, as she lobbied for a “very controlled atmosphere” to reduce the likelihood of infection. Vassell later had to request stronger painkillers — rather than the Motrin she was given — and heating pads as she complained of “excruciating pain” following the abdominal surgery.

Throughout her pregnancy, Vassell managed to make decisions for herself, backed by a maternal care team that extended well beyond the hospital to the home birth midwife and doula she’d hired out-of-pocket.

Read the story at MassLive

Emily AnestaApril 5, 2023news

Boston Globe: License midwives to help struggling birth centers

A new editorial in the Boston Globe calls on the legislature to license certified professional midwives and state regulators to update birth center regulations.

Massachusetts politicians like to hold the Bay State up as a mecca of reproductive rights. Yet while pregnant people can choose whether to carry a baby to term, they have less choice in where to deliver that baby.

While Massachusetts has world-class hospitals — and 99 percent of births occur in a hospital — there is only one birth center, Seven Sisters in Northampton. The North Shore Birth Center, run by Beverly Hospital, closed in December, while the Cambridge Health Alliance-affiliated Cambridge Birth Center closed when COVID-19 hit and never reopened. With nearly 400 birth centers nationally, Massachusetts’ single birth center makes the state an outlier. It is a problem for a state that prides itself on high-quality care but struggles with high health care costs…

There are steps Massachusetts policy makers should take to make birth centers more financially viable. The Department of Public Health should rewrite its regulations to better suit the care modern birth centers provide. The Legislature should allow the licensing of certified professional midwives, a class of childbirth professionals who could expand the workforce.

Emily AnestaMarch 7, 2023news

Black history of midwifery in Massachusetts

You may know the story of Elizabeth Freeman (1742-1829), who helped end slavery in Massachusetts when she sued for her freedom under the new state constitution. Did you know that Elizabeth "Mum Bett" Freeman was also a prominent and respected MIDWIFE in Berkshire county? Read more about Elizabeth Freeman.

On the Black History of midwifery in the United States:
“One of the darkest moments in US history was the systematic eradication of the African American midwife from her community, resulting in a legacy of birth injustices.” - Shafia Monroe, Boston native and Queen of the Midwifery Movement

Emily AnestaFebruary 12, 2023blackhistorymonth, news

Bills filed to expand access to midwifery care, birth centers, and home births

New legislation to expand access to midwives, home birth, and birth centers has been filed in Massachusetts for the 2023-2024 legislative session.

Everyone in Massachusetts should be able to choose where they give birth and the type of maternity care that is most appropriate for their needs. Unfortunately, our state currently lags the nation when it comes to access to midwives, birth centers, home birth, and integration of care -- models that can reverse our rising maternal mortality and growing racial inequities in birth outcomes. Together, these priority bills will propel Massachusetts to a position of leadership in healthy, equitable access to maternity care and birthing choices. Take action now.

Emily AnestaJanuary 23, 2023news