Rebecca Herman, MPH, CPM, NHCM | |
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It’s been a remarkable spring in Massachusetts – sunny days, warm weather, and the rapid renewal of plants and leafing of trees that happens so quickly you can almost see them growing. Across the Commonwealth, this Spring has also been a time of rapid growth and bloom for community birth implementers, policy makers, and local partners.
While exhilarating, the work of transformative systems change can be overwhelming. Over the past nine months, our community birth community has accomplished so much, and grown beyond our expectations. So, today, I invite you to step outside and find a warm spot in the sun. Take a few deep breaths. You deserve it.
Much work remains to be done. And, this summer we are making time to recharge so we can deepen our roots in the year ahead. In this issue, we celebrate the milestones achieved in implementation of the Massachusetts Act to Promote Access to Midwifery Care and Out-Of-Hospital Birth. We also uplift the incredible events and opportunities that lay ahead.
Happy reading!
| | | Building a strong foundation for perinatal networks of care | | |
A year and a half ago, Massachusetts enacted the most comprehensive perinatal wellbeing policy reform package in the country; designed to expand access to midwifery care, community birth options, doula support, and postpartum services; and strengthen continuous quality improvement systems statewide. Since then, hundreds of providers, advocates, community organizations, hospitals, educators, and public health leaders have worked together to turn that vision into reality.
From establishing pathways for CPM licensure and doula certification to supporting workforce development and strengthening community-to-hospital transfer systems, we are beginning to see the infrastructure take shape.
This spring marked an important milestone in that work. Across the Commonwealth, partners came together to build relationships, launch new opportunities, and strengthen the systems that support community birth care. Together, they are helping build a future where every birthing family can access the right care, at the right time, in the right place.
At a moment when our country and the Commonwealth are facing multi-layered challenges of growing care deserts, reduced federal investment in healthcare, and fragmented financing options, it is more important than ever that we strengthen perinatal networks of care, improving collaboration across providers, and reduce delays in transfers between levels of care. It is also vital that we support, nurture, and ease the heavy burden that our frontline care providers shoulder every day.
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Between September 2025 and April 2026, the MA Department of Public Health’s Division of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Early Childhood (DPIE) began cultivating a multi-disciplinary leadership group to shape continuous quality improvement systems in service of the state mandate laid out in the 2024 Act to Promote Access to Midwifery Care and Out-of-Hospital Birth.
On April 7-8, 2026, this group was brought together for the inaugural Massachusetts Perinatal Networks of Care and Transfer Summit to strengthen coordination across clinical, community, and public health systems.
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Key Successes from the Summit
• Steering Committee comprised of traditional midwives, certified professional midwives, doulas, certified nurse midwives, emergency medicine, pediatric and obstetric physicians, paramedics, and state health care regulators.
• Generated concrete actions that can be implemented by the DPH within one year.
• Enabled vulnerable, honest dialogue between disparate professional groups who have a history of traumatic interactions.
• Revealed core areas of confusion and misinformation about existing regulations that can now be clarified statewide.
• Highlighted the importance of cross-discipline training and continuing education.
• Celebrated Greenfield Community College as Massachusetts’ first home for public direct-entry midwifery education.
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Open Remarks from MA DPH Commissioner Robert Goldstein
"The passage of the 2024 Maternal Health Omnibus Law is more than a milestone or an initiative. It is a mandate. It challenges all of us to reimagine how we can organize care, how we collaborate, and how we can provide every birthing person with access to safe, high-quality, respectful, and comfortable care.
The goal is not to choose one model over another. The goal is to build a system in which both co-exist, both are valued, both are connected, and both provide the highest quality of care for every pregnancy"
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Emerging Insights
• Access to care is becoming more fragile due to facility closures. This is particularly true for neonatal intensive care.
• Effective networks must include mechanisms for easy referral, client pre-registration at a nearby hospital regardless of planned delivery location, and two-way, timely sharing of care notes and records between hospitals and community-based providers.
• Workforce burnout prevention and service payment reform are critical to sustainability.
• Strong facilitation with a focus on dialogue and relationship building is needed on an ongoing basis.
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Celebrating the Doula Workforce
On April 30, doulas, trainers, birth workers, community organizations, advocates, and state leaders gathered to celebrate the launch of Massachusetts' statewide doula certification and doula training scholarship and honor the incredible, life-saving work doulas do to protect and care for families!
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Honoring Midwives across MA
On May 5, we partnered with Baystate Birth Coalition and Our Bodies Ourselves to celebrate the International Day of the Midwife. Together with over 100 midwives, advocates, and maternal health leaders, we honored the legacy, leadership, and the incredible care midwives brought to families and communities across generations, every single day!
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CPM Licensure Progress
Massachusetts continues to make significant progress toward the expansion of midwifery care and integration. This spring marked an important milestone with the public comment process of temporary licensure held on April 23, 2026. We are grateful to the many midwives, families, organizations, and partners who shared their feedback throughout this process. For more information, check out the Board of Registration in Midwifery.
Workforce Development
To support a growing community birth workforce, scholarship opportunities have been launched for both Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) and doulas.
- From March to April 2026, nearly 100 doulas and doula students were awarded scholarships to pursue doula training or continued education!
- Five CPMs were awarded full scholarships to pursue the Midwifery Bridge Certificate Program at Greenfield Community College.
- Three Doula Community of Practice sessions were held from April to June in partnership with Health Leads. Topics focused on doula leadership, navigating MassHealth enrollment and billing.
Doula Certification
On March 26, the Massachusetts Department of Public Health launched its Doula Certification Program, a formal, free, and voluntary process through the DPH Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition that establishes minimum education and experience standards for practicing doulas. From April to June, over 40 doulas have been certified. For more information on DPH Doula Certification, visit the DPH Doula Initiative website.
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Building an integrated perinatal health ecosystem and advancing universal access to doula and midwifery care requires collaboration from hospital-based providers, community-based providers, local public health boards, organizations, educators, advocates, and community members.
Interested in strengthening the collaboration between community birth providers, hospital-based providers, and EMS?
🌿 Connect with us on organizing out-of-hospital to hospital transfer drills and our future regional transfer committees.
Interested in strengthening collaboration between doulas and providers across care settings?
🌿 Connect with us on our doula coordinated implementation planning
🌿 Contact DPH-Doulas@mass.gov to join their monthly Doula-only meeting
Interested in learning more about what we do?
🌿 Join our Thoughtful Thursdays: CBDI office hours to connect with our team. Hosted every first Thursday of the month from 12 pm-1 pm ET. Join via this link
🌿 Connect with us to present to your group!
Interested in support to expand community birth and perinatal care services in your local community?
🌿 Contact us if you like your local midwives and doulas to come to community events or farmers’ markets this summer.
🌿 Connect with us to request support for your local board of health or maternal and child health program!
Follow us on the following platforms for the latest updates, educational posts, and events!
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Looking to learn more or get involved with strengthening community birth and doula access? Here are a few places to start:
MA Department of Public Health – News, updates, and information on Doula Initiative and Community Birth Integration.
MassHealth Doula Services Program: Information for Doulas – For more information about the MassHealth Doula Services Program, including the enrollment process, covered services, and important resources.
MassHealth Doula Enrollment Toolkit by Tufts - Step-by-step toolkit for Doulas to become Medicaid Reimbursable Doula in MA.
Massachusetts Chapter of the National Association for Certified Professional Midwives (MA-NACPM) – Education, regulations, and professional development resources.
MA Doula Coalition- Learn more about the community-led coalition working to increase access to doula services for all birthing people in Massachusetts, with a focus on low-income clients.
My Choices in Childbirth – A library of short videos and resources to help educate providers, policymakers, and consumers on the range of birth care choices and how each model ensures safety and quality.
Step Up Together – Transfer drill toolkit and information on collaboration and focused action cycles.
28-Day Anti-Racism Challenge (Institute for Perinatal Quality) – A self-driven annual challenge beginning February 1, 2026; open to all, especially valuable for non-BIPOC allies committed to advancing anti-racist perinatal care.
Intermittent auscultation training- An on-demand, self-paced course for skilled birth attendants wanting to implement intermittent auscultation for fetal monitoring.
Health Leads’ Toolkit for Expanding Doula- Friendly Hospitals- A co-design guide for integrating doulas into inclusive, team-based maternity care.
ACOG Position Statement on Transfer Protocols for Out-of-Hospital Births- Recommendations on hospital policies and protocols to support safe out-of-hospital births to hospital transfers.
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Event: Community Birth Drop In Hour
- Thursday, July 2 from 12:00 pm to 1:00 pm ET
- Online
- Education Development Center
A monthly space where midwives, doulas, hospital partners, and public health leaders connect and problem-solve. Join to connect, bring questions, share updates, and explore current implementation efforts in real time. Join via this link.
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Virtual Prenatal Breastfeeding Series: Comprehensive Education and Support
- June 28 to July 26 at 1:00 pm ET
- Online
- Lucinda's House
This 4-part series was thoughtfully designed to provide expectant parents with crucial prenatal breastfeeding education to build confidence and knowledge before their baby arrives. Register here!
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Mentorship Program: Becoming Midwives
- July 8 and August 12th, 2026 at 6:00 PM ET
- Virtual
- Lucinda's House
Becoming Midwives is a mentoring and support network for Black and Brown midwifery students. Through peer support, mentorship, and professional development, participants explore topics including clinical training, leadership development, navigating bias in educational settings, and sustaining wellness throughout their midwifery journey. For more information, contact info@lucindashouse.org.
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Event: Summer Natal Walks
- July 18, August 22, from 9:00 to 11:00 AM ET
- Ramler Park, 130 Peterborough Street, Boston, MA 02115
- Birthlooms, A Bucket For The Well LLC
Natal Walks is a Monthly Intergenerational BIPOC Perinatal Walking Practice + Movement Wellness Gathering—where every step liberates and each story heals. This free monthly wellness series centering BIPOC families + practitioners takes us along a 1.5 mile trail amidst the Fenway Greenspaces where we move in community, paise for reflection + embrace movement as a liberatory practice. RSVP now!
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Workshop: Step Up Together Action Collaborative
- Applications Due August 17, 2026
- Virtual Program
- Step Up Together
The collaborative brings together community birth providers, hospitals, and EMS teams to strengthen perinatal transfer systems through quality improvement, collaboration, and simulation-based drills. Over seven virtual sessions, interdisciplinary teams receive coaching, tools, and peer support to improve communication, test transfer processes, build trust across care settings, and strengthen preparedness for maternal and newborn emergencies. Apply here.
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Training: Evolution Perinatal Education Collaborative Birth Doula Training
- 7/31-8/2 and 8/14-16, 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM
- In-person
Evolution Perinatal Education Collaborative was established to train excellent childbirth educators and build community through ongoing education opportunities for doulas. Our six-day in-person training is led by Shari McBurney and helps you become a confident doula who makes a difference in the preparation and birth outcomes for expectant families. Register here!
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Community Birth Transfers: Quarterly Community Debrief
- September 14 from 12:00 to 1:00 pm ET
- Online
- Step Up Together, Primary Maternity Care
Step Up Together offers free, Quarterly Community Debriefs—open, virtual sessions where anyone in the perinatal ecosystem can learn directly from real-world emergency drill experiences across community, EMS, and hospital settings. Register here now!
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Ongoing Opportunity: CBDI Support for Community–Hospital Transfer Drills
- Facilitated year-round
- In-person
- Facilitated by the CBDI team and Step-Up Together
CBDI offers ongoing support to community birth providers, hospitals, EMS teams, and partners interested in organizing a planned and attended community birth transfer-of-care drills. Teams receive guidance on planning, facilitation, and debriefing. If your team is interested in hosting a drill or learning more, please visit Step Up Together or reach out to schang@edc.org.
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Subscribe to our mailing list to receive email updates on the Community Birth and Doula Initiative, birth worker spotlights, workforce development opportunities, state certification and licensure, and more! Contact us at schang@edc.org with any questions or inquiries. |
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Community Birth and Doula Initiative (CBDI) is a statewide effort led by the MA Department of Public Health and Education Development Center. We work with perinatal care providers, hospitals, community organizations, and EMS to make sure families receive safe, respectful, community birth access across Massachusetts.
We acknowledge the Massachusetts Department of Public Health — and in particular the Bureau of Family Health and Nutrition, including our Title V and Division of Pregnancy, Infancy, and Early Childhood teams — for their ongoing commitment to birth equity and capacity building across the Commonwealth. Their leadership, funding, and partnership have been essential in strengthening the systems, workforce, and community supports that help families access community birth care.
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