MA State Legislature unanimously passes maternal health omnibus bill
The Massachusetts state legislature unanimously passed a maternal health omnibus bill during an informal session last week.
The bill (H.4999) mandates MassHealth coverage in MA for doula services and expands that coverage to adoptive parents, increases postpartum depression screening and postpartum home visiting, licenses Certified Professional Midwives, reduces the burden of regulations on free-standing birth centers in MA, and more.
Accompany applauds all of these wins, as the ecosystem of maternal health, including doulas, will benefit from this progress! Accompany remains committed to advocating for the remainder of the pieces of the MA doula bill to be voted upon and implemented in the next legislative cycle.
Accompany wishes to thank the hard work of advocates across all maternal health equity causes who were involved in this bill passage as well as state Senator Liz Miranda, who has championed doulas since the beginning of her career as a legislator.
H4999 will be signed by Governor Healy into law on Monday, August 26th at 12:30 PM.