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Lawsuit Challenges Georgia Midwifery Restrictions Amid Maternal Health Crisis
A lawsuit filed by the Center for Reproductive Rights seeks to decriminalize certain midwives in Georgia and remove physician oversight requirements for nurse-midwives. The suit represents Tamara Taitt, Jamarah Amani, and another midwife facing legal barriers to providing care.
Apr 11, 7:00 AM·2m read1 source
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The Center for Reproductive Rights filed a lawsuit against the state of Georgia on behalf of three midwives last week. The suit challenges restrictions that prohibit certified professional midwives and traditional community midwives from providing routine prenatal care, taking vital signs, or delivering babies. Penalties for violations include fines up to $1,000 or imprisonment.
Tamara Taitt moved to Georgia in 2023 to run the Atlanta Birth Center, one of the state's few freestanding birth centers. As a certified professional midwife with national accreditation, Taitt previously operated a birth center in Miami. Georgia law allows only certified nurse-midwives, who hold nursing licenses in addition to midwifery credentials, to practice legally.
Certified professional midwives complete extensive clinical training and can practice in 39 states, but not in Georgia. The lawsuit also seeks to eliminate physician oversight requirements for certified nurse-midwives. It follows multiple unsuccessful legislative efforts to expand midwifery licensing in the state.
experiences a shortage of maternal health providers, with half of its counties lacking obstetrics services and one-third classified as maternal health deserts.
More than 40 labor and delivery units have closed since 1994. Black women in the state are more than twice as likely to die from childbirth-related causes as white women. Birth centers provide care outside hospitals, often with midwives handling prenatal visits and deliveries to reduce medical interventions.
The World Health Organization recommends against C-section rates exceeding 10 to 15 percent, but Georgia's rate is three times that level. Midwifery care is associated with fewer unnecessary interventions and improved outcomes for mothers and infants.
Jamarah Amani, a plaintiff in the lawsuit, stated at a press conference that she left Georgia due to the restrictive laws and now practices in Florida, which licenses a broader range of midwives.
