Some states restrict access to alternative prenatal health care options, including Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs). In a recent Research in Brief published by Pacific Legal Foundation, several guest authors—Sirparna Ghosh, Agnitra Roy Choudhury, and Alicia Plemmons—discuss the positive impacts of increased access to healthcare professionals.   

The authors analyze how a three-day delay in prenatal care can affect whether a child is born underweight or survives birth. Although three days may seem insignificant, the data overwhelmingly demonstrate that access to qualified nonphysician clinicians, such as CNMs, can improve maternal and child health.  

Even though the United States is considered a high-income country, it has the highest infant mortality and maternal death rates in the world. Due to excessive healthcare bans, mothers have limited access to necessary prenatal and postnatal care. Even if birth facilities are nearby, there is no guarantee that each mother will have access to a provider.   

“The lack of physicians in primary care affects the availability of prenatal and postnatal care visits, especially in states that require collaborative practice agreements, where the shortage of physicians may indirectly prevent the practice of nonphysicians,” the authors wrote.  

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