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Blog
Midwives Help Fill Maternity Care Gaps as California Faces OB-GYN Shortage
Patients’ access to birthing services would improve if numerous obstacles to midwives’ efforts were removed.
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Resource
Midwifery Care in California
Learn about midwifery care and California’s midwife workforce in this collection of CHCF resources.
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Blog
The Untapped Power of Midwives in California’s Maternity Care Ecosystem
California has a skilled midwifery workforce that’s ready to plug gaps in patient-centered, high-quality birthing care.
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Resource
What Is a Birth Center?
Despite offering high-quality perinatal care, 80% of California’s licensed birth centers have closed in five years. This fact sheet examines the compounding challenges that birth centers face.
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Resource
What Is a Midwife? — Policy at a Glance
Midwives, ob/gyns, and family physicians are trained to deliver babies in California. In California, a worsening ob/gyn shortage paired with hospital labor and delivery unit closures have generated urgency for expanding access to midwives.
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Blog
Maternity Workforce Insights
This series of conversations takes a look at the critical roles of doulas, lactation professionals, mental health professionals, and midwives.
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Resource
What Is a Doula? — Policy at a Glance
Doulas improve birth outcomes and advance health equity, especially for families of color. California covers doula care for Medi-Cal enrollees, but opportunities remain to further expand access to doulas.
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Maternity Care Workforce
Our maternity care workforce research examines California’s capacity to provide equitable birth services. We analyze provider shortages, training pathways, and care models, supporting policies that expand and diversify the workforce of ob/gyns, midwives, and doulas.
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Blog
Santa Cruz Sobering Center Benefits Patients and County Justice System
County residents support this low-barrier entry point to substance use treatment and mental health care.
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Resource
Understanding California’s Midwife Workforce
Midwives are licensed clinicians who play a key role in the maternity care workforce. These snapshots present survey findings on licensed midwives and nurse-midwives in California.
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Blog
UCSF Favors Pricey Doctoral Program for Nurse-Midwives Amid Maternal Care Crisis
Midwives questioned the university’s motivations at a time when the state has serious shortages of maternity care workers.
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Blog
Diverse Maternity Care Workforce Essential to Advance Birth Equity
A conversation with midwife Angela Sojobi about her decades of experience and the urgent need for more Black midwifery students.
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Blog
Black Maternal Health Crisis Requires Support for Black Health Care Workers
A new report from the Urban Institute addresses structural barriers to entering and remaining in the maternity care field.
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Blog
Advancing Midwifery and Birth Equity in California
Midwives assist people with low- to moderate-risk pregnancies and are a growing component of the maternity workforce in California.
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Blog
Nurse Practitioners Can Offer More Abortion Care in Underserved Areas
A conversation with Sarah McNeil, family medicine doctor and family planning specialist focused on expanding health care access.
