# Black midwives sue South over restrictive practice laws  
**Published:** 2026-06-05T09:00:57.000Z  
**Source:** [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/05/repub/black-midwives-are-suing-southern-states-claiming-regulations-make-it-harder-to-help-patients/)  
**AI-generated:** yes (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001)  
**Canonical:** https://lincolne.news/article/black-midwives-sue-south-over-restrictive-practice-laws

Black midwives in the South are challenging state regulations they say limit their ability to provide maternal care, filing lawsuits in [Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/05/repub/black-midwives-are-suing-southern-states-claiming-regulations-make-it-harder-to-help-patients/) to expand their practice authority. The litigation comes as the region faces dire maternal health disparities, with [Black women experiencing maternal mortality rates 2.5 times higher](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/hestat113.htm) than the national average.

The lawsuits challenge state laws and regulations requiring midwives to maintain costly collaborative practice agreements with physicians—arrangements that plaintiffs say severely limit their scope of care. [In Georgia, midwives filed suit in April 2026](https://reproductiverights.org/cases/challenging-harmful-midwifery-restrictions-georgia/), arguing the restrictions violate the state constitution's due process and equal protection clauses. The case names Jamarah Amani, cofounder of the National Black Midwives Alliance, along with midwives Tamara Taitt and Sarah Stokely as plaintiffs.

Georgia bars direct-entry midwives—those trained through certification and apprenticeships rather than nursing programs—from practicing entirely. Certified nurse-midwives must secure written agreements with physicians that can cost up to $1,000 monthly, pricing many practitioners out of the state. Stokely, a certified nurse-midwife based in Rome, Georgia, regularly travels more than four hours to Tennessee to practice because of the financial burden.

"It is also true that when you focus your lens and your attention on the greatest impacted group—in this case, Black women—that everyone in the system benefits," said Taitt, executive director of Atlanta Birth Center. Georgia has only three freestanding birth centers, all in the Atlanta region, and [more than one-third of the state's counties lack obstetric providers](https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/mississippi/maternity-care-deserts).

The disparities extend nationwide. [Only 18 percent of the nation's 15,000 certified midwives are people of color](https://www.amcbmidwife.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2025-demographic-report--final.pdf), yet research shows [culturally congruent care improves maternal health outcomes](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5577805/). Historically, midwifery was practiced predominantly by Black women in the South until the early 20th century, when states began restricting the profession.

Alabama and Mississippi face similar battles. Alabama has only 22 certified midwives; Mississippi, just 11. In Mississippi, [the American College of Nurse-Midwives filed a federal lawsuit in January](https://mscenterforjustice.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/01/ACNM-v-MSBML-Complaint.pdf), alleging the collaborative practice requirement violates anti-trust laws. The state attorney general's office denied the allegations in March.

Supporters of the restrictions argue they protect patient safety, but evidence suggests otherwise. [A 2018 study found states with midwife-friendly laws had significantly lower rates of preterm birth and neonatal death](https://19thnews.org/2026/05/midwives-lawsuit-georgia-maternity-care/), with maternal outcomes in states like Washington comparable to or better than Georgia's.

Midwifery advocates argue that expanding access is critical as rural maternity units close nationwide. Dr. Yashica Robinson, an OB-GYN who owns the Alabama Birth Center, said improved outcomes stem from patients having "access to providers that they're comfortable with, that they trust, and that they can actually get into in a timely fashion."

## Sources

- [Nebraska Examiner](https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/05/repub/black-midwives-are-suing-southern-states-claiming-regulations-make-it-harder-to-help-patients/)
- [CDC maternal mortality data 2024](https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/hestat/hestat113.htm)
- [Center for Reproductive Rights - Challenging Harmful Midwifery Restrictions in Georgia](https://reproductiverights.org/cases/challenging-harmful-midwifery-restrictions-georgia/)
- [American Midwifery Certification Board 2025 demographic report](https://www.amcbmidwife.org/docs/default-source/default-document-library/2025-demographic-report--final.pdf)
- [Culturally congruent care and maternal health outcomes](https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5577805/)

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This article was generated by AI (claude-haiku-4-5-20251001) based on source material from Nebraska Examiner, enriched with 3 web searches. The original source is available at https://nebraskaexaminer.com/2026/06/05/repub/black-midwives-are-suing-southern-states-claiming-regulations-make-it-harder-to-help-patients/.