News

Georgia Midwives Sue State Amid Maternal Health Crisis

• Press Release

April 2, 2026

5 min. read

Midwives are challenging laws that keep them from practicing in Georgia and leave pregnant people with few options

04.02.26 (PRESS RELEASE) – Today, in front of the Georgia state Capitol, several midwives announced a lawsuit challenging Georgia’s midwifery restrictions — some of the strictest in the country. Georgia law prohibits midwives with expertise in home and birth center births from practicing and prevents certified nurse midwives from practicing to the full extent of their training. These restrictions and others like them have exacerbated the maternal health crisis in Georgia and across the U.S.

FOR MEDIA USE: Photos and video footage of the press conference in front of the Capitol today.

The lawsuit was announced on the last day of Georgia’s legislative session, after lawmakers failed to pass HB520, a bill that would have largely decriminalized midwifery.

The restrictions challenged in this lawsuit include:

• A law that threatens jail time and financial penalties for any midwife who practices without a nursing license – regardless of their training.
• A law that prevents Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) from practicing independently. In order to provide the full scope of care they are trained in, including delivering babies and prescribing medications, CNMs must work under physician oversight, which in practice often means paying hundreds of dollars to a physician — a cost that many CNMs cannot afford.

The U.S. is facing a maternal health crisis nationwide. Rates of maternal mortality in the U.S. are far higher than in other high-income countries, particularly for Black women. As more labor and delivery units and birth centers shutter, a direshortage of maternity care providers leaves many people without options for care during pregnancy. More than 1/3 of counties in the U.S. are considered maternity care deserts, without a single birthing facility or obstetric clinician.

Evidence shows that more access to midwives leads to better health outcomes for pregnant people and babies – especially for people of color and lower-income people. People cared for by midwives are less likely to have pregnancy interventions like C-sections, episiotomies, epidurals, and drug-induced labor – costly procedures that can lead to health complications.

Despite this,states like Georgia continue to restrict access to midwifery care. Georgia has some of the most restrictive midwifery laws in the country and some of the worst maternal health outcomes. In February, Georgia’s oldest freestanding birth center closed – leaving just three birth centers in the entire state. As of August 2025, only 36% of Georgia’s rural hospitals provided labor and delivery services.

But restrictions on midwifery are increasingly facing challenges nationwide. Recent lawsuits in Mississippi, Nebraska, and Alabama have sought to strike down laws that limit midwives and birth centers from serving their communities. In October, certified nurse midwives in North Carolina will no longer have to enter agreements with physicians.

Following a 2024 lawsuit filed by the Center to challenge Hawaii’s restrictions on traditional and apprenticeship-trained midwives, the state successfully expanded access to midwifery.

Quotes from plaintiffs and attorneys: 

“It should not be illegal to give birth at home with a midwife. Every pregnant person should be able to choose where they give birth and with whom,” said Jamarah Amani, a Florida-licensed midwife and co-founder of the National Black Midwives Alliance. “I was inspired to become a midwife after my own distressing birth experience in Georgia, where hospital staff would not let me give birth in the way I wanted — an all-too-common experience, especially for Black women. I trained in the tradition of legendary grand midwives who have helped Georgians give birth for generations. But because of Georgia law, I had to move to Florida to get my midwifery license and build my career. We’re bringing this case to get rid of these oppressive laws so I can serve families in Georgia, too.”

“Georgia has a maternity care crisis and the state continues to squander a workforce that could help change that,” said Tamara Taitt, a Florida-licensed midwife and executive director of Atlanta Birth Center, where she is unable to practice midwifery. “Currently, there are not enough maternal health care providers in Georgia. The solution is more midwives, and lawmakers need to let us practice. As the US continues to fall behind in maternal mortality and morbidity, the rest of the world employs the solution: more midwives. As a country and as a state, we are visibly failing pregnant people — especially Black women, rural families and communities of color.”

“As a Georgia native, I want to use my midwifery license and skills to help families in my own state. But because of Georgia laws, I have to drive to Tennessee to practice my profession.  In Georgia, I would need to pay a physician an insurmountable fee to babysit me,” said Sarah Stokely, a certified nurse midwife (CNM) who lives in Georgia but currently works at a home birth practice in Tennessee. “Many clients come to me because they’ve had traumatic hospital births, with procedures forced upon them. Our current medical system is not meeting the needs of pregnant people, and they deserve options. Midwives prioritize providing more personalized care and listening to the needs of our clients. We also know when to pull in a physician if certain risks arise.”

“We cannot solve the maternal health crisis without midwives—they are a key part of the solution in Georgia and nationwide. Yet under Georgia law, midwives are treated like criminals. These extreme restrictions are exacerbating the maternity care crisis and infringing on the rights of pregnant women who want to give birth with midwives,” said Nancy Northup, president of the Center for Reproductive Rights. “We are suing the state because pregnant people should have the autonomy to decide who they give birth with, and taking away options while there is a glaring lack of providers is senseless. We must break down these legal barriers to improve maternal health care in this country.”

The lawsuit was filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights, Covington & Burling LLP, and Mitchell Shapiro Greenamyre & Funt LLP on behalf of plaintiffs Jamarah Amani, LM; Tamara Taitt, MS, LMFT, LM; and Sarah Stokely, CNM.

###

MEDIA CONTACT: [email protected]