HR 6394 — Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025

Summary

This bill would establish federal grant programs to expand midwifery education and training in the United States. The bill authorizes $15 million from fiscal years 2026-2030 for grants to higher education institutions supporting midwifery schools and programs, and $20 million for grants to nursing schools to establish or expand nurse-midwifery programs. The grants would support student scholarships, program establishment or expansion, and training for clinical preceptors. Both programs would prioritize institutions recruiting students from rural and economically disadvantaged communities who plan to practice in areas with healthcare shortages. The bill aims to increase the availability of midwives to address maternity care shortages.

AI-generated plain-language summary of the bill text — neutral, and may be imperfect. See the full text below for the exact wording.

Sponsor (1)

Rep. Hinson, Ashley [R-IA-2] (R-IA)

2 cosponsors

Rep. Gray, Adam [D-CA-13] (D-CA)
Rep. Vindman, Eugene Simon [D-VA-7] (D-VA)

Actions (2)

Dec 3, 2025 Referred to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce. · house
Dec 3, 2025 Introduced in House

Related bills (1)

Similar bills (6)

Bills with similar text or summary — includes reintroductions across Congresses. Ranked by semantic similarity of the bill text (computed locally); a neutral discovery aid, not a claim the bills are duplicates.

Text versions (1)

Introduced in House · Dec 3, 2025

Only one text version is on file, so there’s no earlier version to compare against yet.

Full text

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

December 3, 2025

Mrs. Hinson (for herself and Mr. Gray) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce

A BILL

To address maternity care shortages and promote optimal maternity outcomes by expanding educational opportunities for midwives, and for other purposes.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the “Midwives for Maximizing Optimal Maternity Services Act of 2025” or the “Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025”.

SEC. 2. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS.

(a) In General.—Title VII of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 760 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 294k) the following:

“SEC. 760A. MIDWIFERY SCHOOLS AND PROGRAMS.

“(a) In General.—The Secretary may award grants to institutions of higher education (as defined in subsections (a) and (b) of section 101 of the Higher Education Act of 1965) for the following:

“(1) Direct support of students in an accredited midwifery school or program.

“(2) Establishment or expansion of an accredited midwifery school or program.

“(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support for increasing the number of, qualified preceptors for training the students of an accredited midwifery school or program.

“(b) Priority Evaluation.—In awarding grants under subsection

(a), the Secretary shall give precedence to any institution of higher education that—

“(1) agrees to prioritize students who plan to practice in a health professional shortage area designated under section 332; and

“(2) demonstrates a focus on recruitment and retention of students from rural and economically disadvantaged communities through—

“(A) enhanced recruitment strategies;

“(B) mentorship programs;

“(C) academic remediation; or

“(D) internships and fellowships.

“(c) Restriction.—The Secretary shall not provide any assistance under this section to be used with respect to a midwifery school or program within a school of nursing (as defined in section 801).

“(d) Authorization of Appropriations.—

“(1) In general.—There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $15,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2026 through 2030.

“(2) Allocation.—Of the amounts made available to carry out this section for any fiscal year, the Secretary shall use—

“(A) 50 percent for subsection (a)(1);

“(B) 25 percent for subsection (a)(2); and

“(C) 25 percent for subsection (a)(3).”.

(b) Definitions.—

(1) Midwifery school or program.—Section 799B(1)(A) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(A)) is amended—

(A) by inserting “‘midwifery school or program’,” before “and ‘school of chiropractic”’;

(B) by inserting “a degree or certificate in midwifery or an equivalent degree or certificate,” before “and a degree of doctor of chiropractic or an equivalent degree”; and

(C) by striking “any such school” and inserting “any such school or program”.

(2) Accredited.—Section 799B(1)(E) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 295p(1)(E)) is amended by inserting “a midwifery school or program,” before “or a graduate program in health administration”.

SEC. 3. NURSE-MIDWIVES.

Title VIII of the Public Health Service Act is amended by inserting after section 811 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 296j) the following:

“SEC. 812. MIDWIFERY EXPANSION PROGRAM.

“(a) In General.—The Secretary may award grants to schools of nursing for the following:

“(1) Direct support of students in an accredited nurse- midwifery school or program.

“(2) Establishment or expansion of an accredited nurse- midwifery school or program.

“(3) Securing, preparing, or providing support for increasing the numbers of, preceptors at clinical training sites to precept students training to become certified nurse- midwives.