S 1599 — Midwives for MOMS Act of 2025

Summary

The Midwives for MOMS Act establishes federal grant programs to expand midwifery education by funding institutions of higher education and schools of nursing. The bill authorizes $15 million over fiscal years 2025-2029 for accredited midwifery schools and programs to support student scholarships, establish or expand programs, and secure qualified clinical preceptors. An additional $20 million is authorized for schools of nursing to support certified nurse-midwifery education through similar grants for student support, program expansion, and preceptor development. Both grant programs prioritize applications from institutions serving health professional shortage areas and those demonstrating commitment to increasing racial and ethnic minority representation in midwifery education. The funding allocation for each program is split as 50 percent for student support, 25 percent for program establishment or expansion, and 25 percent for preceptor support.

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)

Sen. Luján, Ben Ray [D-NM] (D-NM)

5 cosponsors

Actions (2)

May 5, 2025 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions. · senate
May 5, 2025 Introduced in Senate

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.

Full text

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

May 5, 2025

Mr. Lujan (for himself, Ms. Murkowski, Mr. Merkley, Ms. Klobuchar, and Mr. Kelly) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions

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) Special Considerations.—In awarding grants under subsection

(a), the Secretary shall give special consideration 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 increasing racial and ethnic minority representation in midwifery education.

“(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 2025 through 2029.

“(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 “or 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.

“(b) Special Considerations.—In awarding grants under subsection

(a), the Secretary shall give special consideration to any school of nursing that—

“(1) agrees to prioritize students who choose to pursue an advanced education degree in nurse-midwifery to practice in a health professional shortage area designated under section 332; and

“(2) demonstrates a focus on increasing racial and ethnic minority representation in nurse-midwifery education.

“(c) Authorization of Appropriations.—

“(1) In general.—To carry out this section, there is authorized to be appropriated $20,000,000 for the period of fiscal years 2025 through 2029.