Hearing only: Bill to license community midwives draws lengthy testimony and divergent views

Representative Masiak presented House Bill 520 in a hearing-only session, saying the bill's intent is to establish licensure and regulation for home-birth midwives in Georgia.

"When a state has an underground network of healthcare providers, it is our responsibility to provide that safety for the consumer through regulation rather than prosecution," Representative Masiak said, describing the bill's aim to create licensure pathways for direct-entry midwives and to repeal an older chapter in Title 31.

Nut graf: Testimony included midwives (both credentialed and traditional), mothers who had home births, a labor-and-delivery nurse and a representative from the Georgia Department of Public Health. Supporters said licensing would standardize qualifications, protect consumers and expand access; critics and some experienced midwives asked for amendments to avoid excluding seasoned traditional midwives, to clarify governance and to consider keeping oversight within the Department of Public Health.

Several midwives and parents described personal experiences and urged the committee to adopt a licensure framework. Missy Burgess (certified professional midwife) summarized the bill's major provisions and emphasized required competency testing, continuity of care in home settings and newborn screening: "We care for women preconception, pregnancy, labor and delivery, and postpartum... we are trained in some of the more risk-management skills to help in prevent loss." Jordan Cornuya, a labor-and-delivery nurse and certified nurse-midwife student, said that licensure would help patients distinguish credentialed providers from those without formal training.

Some midwives and advocates, however, recommended changes. Corina Edwards (licensed midwife, CPM) and others urged amendments to avoid creating a new licensing board that could duplicate or displace the Department of Public Health's existing role; they recommended broader grandfathering and alternate pathways for experienced traditional midwives who lack formal documentation but have long practice histories. The Georgia Department of Public Health, represented by Assistant Commissioner Megan Andrews, listed concerns including the lack of an explicit physician-supervision or collaborative requirement, absence of a proximity requirement to hospitals, and the need to specify high-risk conditions that should preclude home birth.

Representative Park Cannon said she drafted a substitute and would share it with the sponsor, arguing the bill's licensure standard may set too high a bar and could replicate past conflicts observed in other professional-licensure efforts.

Ending: The committee concluded the hearing without a vote. Members asked for drafted amendments and substitutes to be circulated; the bill will return to committee for further drafting and debate.