Georgia Midwives Face Criminalization Amid Maternal Health Crisis
Black women in Georgia turn to midwives for safer births, but the state criminalizes many of them, worsening the maternal health crisis.
As the maternal health crisis in the United States continues to worsen, particularly for Black women, many expectant mothers in Georgia are turning to midwives for safer, more holistic birthing experiences. However, the state's restrictive laws have criminalized the work of many of these midwives, creating an extraordinary barrier to accessing the care that could save lives.
When Tamara Taitt moved to Georgia in 2023 to run the Atlanta Birth Center, she found herself in a precarious legal position. Under Georgia law, the center's own executive director - a nationally accredited midwife - cannot provide routine clinical care for the center's own clients without facing potential criminal charges.
Birth centers like the Atlanta Birth Center offer women the opportunity to give birth outside of a hospital, cared for by midwives rather than obstetricians. Families choose these centers to access more holistic, less medicalized prenatal care and birth, and to avoid invasive medical interventions in a state where C-sections occur at three times the rate recommended by the World Health Organization.
Source: The Guardian
