Midwives sue Georgia over restrictive laws limiting maternity care access

Georgia and some of the most restrictive midwifery laws in the nation, and so a coalition of midwives has filed a lawsuit to challenge them.

The lawsuit was filed in Fulton County Superior Court on April 2 and alleges that Georgia’s law contributes to gaps in access to maternity care, according to WABE.

Tamara Taitt, the director of the Atlanta Birth Center, is a midwife and a plaintiff in the lawsuit. She said certain restrictions are unnecessary, such as the requirement that Certified Nurse Midwives operate under a doctor’s supervision.

“We could employ more midwives and serve more families. Instead, Georgia is choosing to leave skilled and committed workforce on the sidelines even as communities struggle to access care,” Taitt said.

Georgia received an F grade for its preterm birth rate in the March of Dimes’ 2025 Report Card, which placed the state among the lowest-ranked for maternal and infant health in the country.

Georgia has three freestanding birth centers that offer midwife care, and a fourth closed its doors recently in Savannah citing financial issues.

“Birth centers are really facing challenges around reimbursement, like inadequate reimbursement from insurance,” Taitt said. “And 97% of our clients either have Medicaid or private insurance as their source of payment and so inadequate insurance reimbursement for the quality of care that we provide, which is something that all reproductive health care providers face, really strains our high-touch model because we spend more time with our patients and so the birth center is ever in a fight for its survival.”

State Rep. Park Cannon, who is also a trained doula, supported House Bill 520, which was introduced in 2025 and would have loosened the restrictions on midwives.

“This bill did not come up for consideration, nor was it passed. So today, the midwives have launched their lawsuit in the Fulton County Superior Court to demand access to equitable employment opportunities in Georgia,” Cannon said.