Health
SACRAMENTO – With a renewed focus on curbing racial inequities in health care, the Senate on Friday overwhelmingly approved legislation from Sens. Bill Dodd, D-Napa, Holly Mitchell, D-Los Angeles and Assemblymember Autumn Burke, D- Inglewood, to improve access to high-quality maternity treatment in California.
Senate Bill 1237, sponsored by the California Nurse-Midwives Association and Black Women for Wellness, would address disparities in outcomes for Black women and infants and counter the obstetrician shortage – projected to be critical in some counties by 2025.
“I appreciate the support for this proposal, which will improve access to high-quality maternity care and help resolve inequities in treatment for women of color,” Sen. Dodd said. “The current gap is completely unacceptable. By increasing access to nurse-midwives, we can improve outcomes for mothers and babies, especially those in rural or inner-city settings.”
SB 1237 would expand access to care by authorizing nurse-midwives to conduct routine services without direct physician supervision, following the lead of 46 other states.
California’s current model has not been shown to increase the safety or quality of maternity care.
States that allow autonomous practice within a more integrated, collaborative model between physicians and midwives show significantly lower rates of cesarean, preterm birth, low birth-weight infants and neonatal death. Nurse-midwives perform 50,000 births a year in California.
Sen. Dodd’s bill comes as experts from the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative report Black women in California still die at a rate that is 3-4 times higher than white women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
Furthermore, babies born to Black women were more than three times as likely to die of a preterm, birth-related issue as babies born to white women in 2017.
National and international organizations including the March of Dimes and the World Health Organization agree improved access to midwives is a necessary and innovative strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate racial disparities.
“We are in a moment that both our state and our nation are rethinking how we address racial inequities in our institutions that can better focus on centering people first,” said Nourbese Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness Action Project. “By expanding both maternal health and abortion access through the ability of highly trained nurse-midwives to practice independently, we are expanding our ability to tackle deep inequality for the women and birthing people who need quality healthcare the most. I am grateful that we are one step closer to seeing SB 1237 signed into law.”
“The burden of morbidity and mortality falls largely on Black and indigenous women and those from marginalized communities who cannot receive the care they need and desire,” said Kathleen Belzer, CNMA president. “This is unacceptable. SB 1237 will improve access to maternal health care by removing physician supervision which is extremely difficult to attain. This will be especially impactful in the community, out of hospital setting. This bill allows CNMs to work independently with low-risk women, and creates a collaborative framework for CNMs to work with physicians when necessary in a team-based model to ensure the safest and highest quality care available.”
The bill is also sponsored by the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and NARAL Pro-Choice California. It passed the Senate on a 35 to 1 vote and heads next to the Assembly.
Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
Senate Bill 1237, sponsored by the California Nurse-Midwives Association and Black Women for Wellness, would address disparities in outcomes for Black women and infants and counter the obstetrician shortage – projected to be critical in some counties by 2025.
“I appreciate the support for this proposal, which will improve access to high-quality maternity care and help resolve inequities in treatment for women of color,” Sen. Dodd said. “The current gap is completely unacceptable. By increasing access to nurse-midwives, we can improve outcomes for mothers and babies, especially those in rural or inner-city settings.”
SB 1237 would expand access to care by authorizing nurse-midwives to conduct routine services without direct physician supervision, following the lead of 46 other states.
California’s current model has not been shown to increase the safety or quality of maternity care.
States that allow autonomous practice within a more integrated, collaborative model between physicians and midwives show significantly lower rates of cesarean, preterm birth, low birth-weight infants and neonatal death. Nurse-midwives perform 50,000 births a year in California.
Sen. Dodd’s bill comes as experts from the California Maternal Quality Care Collaborative report Black women in California still die at a rate that is 3-4 times higher than white women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum.
Furthermore, babies born to Black women were more than three times as likely to die of a preterm, birth-related issue as babies born to white women in 2017.
National and international organizations including the March of Dimes and the World Health Organization agree improved access to midwives is a necessary and innovative strategy to reduce and eventually eliminate racial disparities.
“We are in a moment that both our state and our nation are rethinking how we address racial inequities in our institutions that can better focus on centering people first,” said Nourbese Flint, executive director of Black Women for Wellness Action Project. “By expanding both maternal health and abortion access through the ability of highly trained nurse-midwives to practice independently, we are expanding our ability to tackle deep inequality for the women and birthing people who need quality healthcare the most. I am grateful that we are one step closer to seeing SB 1237 signed into law.”
“The burden of morbidity and mortality falls largely on Black and indigenous women and those from marginalized communities who cannot receive the care they need and desire,” said Kathleen Belzer, CNMA president. “This is unacceptable. SB 1237 will improve access to maternal health care by removing physician supervision which is extremely difficult to attain. This will be especially impactful in the community, out of hospital setting. This bill allows CNMs to work independently with low-risk women, and creates a collaborative framework for CNMs to work with physicians when necessary in a team-based model to ensure the safest and highest quality care available.”
The bill is also sponsored by the United Nurses Association of California/Union of Health Care Professionals and NARAL Pro-Choice California. It passed the Senate on a 35 to 1 vote and heads next to the Assembly.
Dodd represents the Third Senate District, which includes all or portions of Napa, Yolo, Sonoma, Solano, Sacramento and Contra Costa counties.
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – Lake County’s Public Health officer is asking for volunteers to help the county with its COVID-19 testing efforts.
Dr. Gary Pace said having the sustainable capacity to test at least 100 people per day is key to Lake County’s ability to continue reopening local business sectors and keep businesses open.
Local leaders, along with Sen. Mike McGuire, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and the California COVID-19 Testing Task Force fought hard to make this valuable partnership happen, Pace said.
“Unfortunately, Verily has been testing at about one-third of their capacity,” or about 50 tests per day, said Pace.
Pace said the state’s goal is to test 80,000 per day, and each Verily and OptumServe site must perform near capacity to meet this statewide objective.
Volunteers are needed, particularly in the areas of clinical support – preferably nurses and similar medical personnel – and traffic control, Pace said.
To volunteer, please contact the Medical Health operational area coordinator atThis email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or call 707-263-8174.
Dr. Gary Pace said having the sustainable capacity to test at least 100 people per day is key to Lake County’s ability to continue reopening local business sectors and keep businesses open.
Local leaders, along with Sen. Mike McGuire, Assemblymember Cecilia Aguiar-Curry and the California COVID-19 Testing Task Force fought hard to make this valuable partnership happen, Pace said.
“Unfortunately, Verily has been testing at about one-third of their capacity,” or about 50 tests per day, said Pace.
Pace said the state’s goal is to test 80,000 per day, and each Verily and OptumServe site must perform near capacity to meet this statewide objective.
Volunteers are needed, particularly in the areas of clinical support – preferably nurses and similar medical personnel – and traffic control, Pace said.
To volunteer, please contact the Medical Health operational area coordinator at
- Details
- Written by: Lake County News Reports
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