The Perinatal Workforce Act aims to address shortages and diversity gaps in the healthcare professionals who care for pregnant people and new mothers. Right now, many communities—especially those with racial and ethnic minorities—don't have enough maternity care providers, and the existing workforce doesn't always reflect the communities it serves. This bill tackles that problem in several ways.

First, it directs the federal government to give states guidance on how to recruit and keep maternity care workers from diverse backgrounds, including midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, and other specialists. It also funds research into what makes maternal care respectful and culturally appropriate, then shares those best practices widely. Second, the bill provides $15 million per year (through 2028) in grants to schools that train midwives, physician assistants, and perinatal health workers—with extra support going to schools that actively recruit students from underrepresented groups and teach about implicit bias and racism. Similarly, it provides another $15 million annually to nursing schools to train nurses specializing in maternal and perinatal care, again prioritizing diversity and bias training.

The bill also requires training on bias and racism for all maternity care providers and emphasizes hiring workers who speak patients' languages and understand their cultural backgrounds. Finally, it directs a government audit to identify barriers preventing low-income women and women of color from becoming maternity care providers, and to assess gaps in access to these services. Overall, this bill is designed to create a more diverse, culturally competent maternal healthcare workforce and ensure that pregnant people in underserved areas have better access to quality care.

Perinatal Workforce Act

Baldwin, Tammy

Perinatal Workforce Act This bill establishes programs and requires research to diversify&nbsp;the perinatal workforce and advance respectful maternal care delivery models. Specifically, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) must award grants to education and training programs to grow and diversify the professions that make up the perinatal workforce. HHS must also disseminate guidance on respectful maternal care delivery. This guidance must cover, among other topics, recruiting and retaining maternity care providers from diverse backgrounds and incorporating trained midwives and other perinatal health workers into maternity care teams. In addition, the National Institutes of Health must study best practices for culturally and linguistically congruent maternity care. This is care that is in agreement with the preferred cultural values, beliefs, languages, worldview, and practices of health care consumers and other stakeholders. The Government Accountability Office must also report on certain aspects of perinatal health care professions. The report must focus on barriers to entering those professions for low-income and minority women.