III 

118TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. RES. 588 

Recognizing March 14, 2024, as ‘‘Black Midwives Day’’. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 14, 2024 

Mr. BOOKER (for himself and Ms. BUTLER) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions 

RESOLUTION 

Recognizing March 14, 2024, as ‘‘Black Midwives Day’’. 

Whereas recognizing March 14, 2024, 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 in 2023 

and led by the National Black Midwives Alliance, establishes March 14th as Black Midwives Day as a day of 

awareness, activism, education, and community building; 

Whereas March 14, 2024, is intended to increase attention on 

the state of Black maternal health in the United States, 

the root causes of poor maternal health outcomes for 

Black birthing people, and the need for community-driven 

policies, programs, and care solutions; 


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•SRES 588 IS 

Whereas the United States is experiencing a maternity care 

desert crisis in which 2,200,000 women of childbearing 

age live in maternity care deserts where they do not have 

access to hospitals or birth centers offering maternity 

care or obstetric providers; 

Whereas maternity care deserts lead to higher risks of maternal morbidity and mortality as most complications occur 

in the postpartum period when birthing people are far 

away from their providers; 

Whereas incorporating midwives fully into the maternity care 

system in the United States would reduce maternal 

health disparities and help to 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 high-income countries, 

increasing rapidly and disproportionately higher among 

Black birthing people; 

Whereas maternal health is intractably linked to infant 

health, as 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; 

Whereas Black birthing people in the United States suffer 

from life threatening pregnancy complications, known as 

‘‘maternal morbidities’’, twice as often as White birthing 

people; 

Whereas deaths from maternal morbidities have devastating 

effects on Black children and families, and the vast majority of material morbidities are entirely preventable 


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through assertive efforts to ensure that Black birthing 

people have access to information, services, and supports 

to make their own health care decisions, particularly 

around pregnancy and childbearing; 

Whereas the high rates of maternal mortality among Black 

birthing people span across income levels, education levels, and socioeconomic statuses; 

Whereas structural racism, gender oppression, and the social 

determinants of health inequities experienced by Black 

birthing people in the United States significantly contribute to the disproportionately high rates of maternal 

mortality and morbidity among Black birthing people; 

Whereas Black birthing people 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 decline of midwifery across the southern United 

States reduced the numbers of Black midwives from 

thousands to dozens throughout the 20th century, 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; 


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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 of Black midwifery 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 for 

the birthing person and can be facilitated at home, in a 

birth center, or hospital by working 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, including by reducing 

infant mortality and morbidity, 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 


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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 birthing people, 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 birthing 

people; 

Whereas Black Midwives Day is an opportunity to acknowledge the fight to end maternal mortality locally, nationally, and globally; 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, 


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culturally matched perinatal health providers: Now, 

therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the Senate— 

2 (1) recognizes March 14, 2024, as ‘‘Black Mid3 wives Day’’; 

4 (2) encourages the Federal Government and 

5 State and local governments to take proactive meas6 ures to address racial disparities in maternal health 

7 outcomes by supporting initiatives aimed at diversi8 fying the perinatal workforce, increasing access to 

9 culturally congruent maternal health care; 

10 (3) commits to collaborating with relevant 

11 stakeholders to develop and enact policy solutions 

12 that promote health equity, address systemic racism, 

13 and support the advancement of Black midwifery; 

14 (4) calls for increased funding for education, 

15 training, and mentorship programs that focus on 

16 promoting and sustaining Black midwifery across all 

17 training pathways; 

18 (5) encourages the Federal Government and 

19 State and local governments to authorize the auton20 omous practice of all midwives to the full extent of 

21 their training; 

22 (6) promotes TRICARE and Medicaid coverage 

23 of maternity care provided by midwives of all trainVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:12 Mar 15, 2024 Jkt 049200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR588.IS SR588

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1 ing pathways in the setting of choice of the birthing 

2 person; and 

3 (7) supports and recognizes the longstanding 

4 and invaluable contributions of Black midwives to 

5 maternal and infant health in the United States. 

Æ 


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