Budget wins for maternal health!
We are celebrating funding for maternal health care in the Massachusetts State Budget!
Summary: 7 of our 9 maternal health budget priorities passed in either the House or Senate! 🎉
Every April and May, state legislators debate what to include in the annual state budget. This year, we raised our voices louder than ever in support of funding for birth centers, mental health support, universal postpartum home visiting, and more in the FY27 (fiscal year 2027) budget. Many of our priority amendments passed, and we are thrilled to announce $1.2M for birth centers, 220K for community-based support for new parents, and $4.3M for implementation of the maternal health law including universal postpartum home visiting, midwifery integration, fetal and infant mortality review, and pregnancy loss awareness.
What’s next:
We will advocate for these 7 items to be included in the final budget negotiated by the Senate-House budget conference committee over the next couple of months. We will keep you posted on the final outcome!
We will keep advocating for more funding and for the items that did not pass to move forward in some other way (for example, in another spending bill or by passing a law). Stay tuned for action alerts and opportunities to advocate.
$1.2M for Birth Centers
$1M for birth center grants (passed by Senate)
$100K for Neighborhood Birth Center (passed by Senate)
$75K for Seven Sisters Midwifery (passed by House)
$25K for Worcester Community Midwifery (passed by House)
Maternal Health & Mental Health Funding
$4.3M for maternal health law implementation (passed by Senate) - Funds universal postpartum home visiting, midwife integration, perinatal mood and anxiety digital resources and awareness campaign, fetal and infant mortality review, and pregnancy loss awareness
$220K for Moms Matter Act perinatal mental health grants (passed by Senate)
Midwives reimbursement correction
This budget item was not for funding, but makes an important fix to the law that will help ensure access to midwifery care for low income people in Massachusetts. Makes a technical correction to the law to ensure that the MassHealth midwifery reimbursement applies to all categories of MassHealth plans as originally intended in the 2024 Maternal Health Law. (passed by Senate)
What did not pass in this year’s budget:
Midwifery Workforce Fund and an earmark for the Center for Maternal Health Advancement.
We will keep pushing to get these passed another way!