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 |Add To My Favorites |Track Bill | Version: 10/11/25 - Chaptered
 09/11/25 - Enrolled
 09/03/25 - Amended Senate
 06/23/25 - Amended Senate
 03/24/25 - Amended Assembly
 02/19/25 - Introduced

 AB-836 Midwifery Workforce Training Act.(2025-2026)

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 Date Published: 10/13/2025 02:00 PM

AB836:v94#DOCUMENTBill Start

 Assembly Bill

 No. 836

 CHAPTER 597

An act to add Section 128300 to the Health and Safety Code, relating to maternal care.

 [
 Approved by

 Governor
 October 11, 2025.

 Filed with

 Secretary of State
 October 11, 2025.
 ]

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

AB 836, Stefani.
 Midwifery Workforce Training Act.

Existing law requires the Department of Health Care Access and Information, formerly known as the Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development, to establish a program to contract with programs that train certified nurse-midwives and programs that train licensed midwives in accordance with the global standards for midwifery education and the international definition of “midwife” as established by the International Confederation of Midwives in order to increase the number of students receiving quality education and training as a certified nurse-midwife or as a licensed midwife. Existing law requires these provisions to be implemented only upon an appropriation by the Legislature for these purposes in the annual Budget Act or another act.

This bill would require the Department of Health Care Access and Information, upon appropriation from the
 Legislature for this purpose, to administer funding for a statewide study on midwifery education. The bill would require the study to be conducted by an outside consultant familiar with the health care and midwifery landscapes and workforce in California that would, among other things, identify viable education programs that can serve both rural and urban geographic areas. The bill would require the department to submit a report from the study’s findings to the Legislature, to post the report on the department’s internet website, and to notify all persons in the department’s reproductive health and maternity care electronic mailing list, as specified. The bill would define “reproductive health care professionals” as, among others, medical doctors and licensed midwives.

Digest Key

 Vote:
 MAJORITY 
 Appropriation:
 NO 
 Fiscal Committee:
 YES 
 Local Program:
 NO 

Bill Text

The people of the State of California do enact as follows:

SECTION 1.

 The Legislature finds and declares the following:

(a) It is the intent of the Legislature to study the existing and projected opportunities and barriers to establishing, operating, and attending accessible, high-quality midwifery education programs that will serve the maternity and reproductive health needs of Californians.

(b) It is the intent of the Legislature that the findings be applied by the Department of Health Care Access and Information to support, in collaboration with stakeholders, the creation of a sustainable strategy that will develop the midwifery workforce in California that reflects California’s racial, ethnic, linguistic, socioeconomic, and geographic
 diversity.

(c) Midwives provide a significant amount of perinatal and reproductive health care in California but are underutilized in the workforce despite demonstrating excellent health outcomes.

(d) With a single program currently accepting students, there is a shortage of midwifery education programs in the state.

SEC. 2.

 Section 128300 is added to the Health and Safety Code, immediately following Section 128299, to read:

128300.

 (a) Upon appropriation from the Legislature, the Department of Health Care Access and Information shall administer funding for a statewide study on midwifery education. The study shall be conducted by an outside consultant familiar with the health care and midwifery landscapes and workforce in California.

(b) This study shall include, but is not limited to, all of the following:

(1) An evaluation of status and trends in midwifery education in California and the United States.

(2) Financial sustainability plan, including long-term education program financing, cost of educating midwives in California, and the options
 for financial stability of midwifery education.

(3) Assess available state and federal funding resources to cover student tuition and fees, and report on