Certified Nurse Midwives: Key to increasing access to maternity care in rural Georgia

Integrating more Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) to practice in rural Georgia while in school will increase access to maternity care resulting in decreased maternal mortality rates (MMR). Georgia has the second highest MMR in the country where the health inequality and disparities are experienced by rural women at 24.3% compared to their non-rural counterparts at 16.5%. It has been estimated that there is currently a 52% deficiency or complete absence of maternal care providers for women of childbearing age in rural Georgia (areas outside of metropolitan Atlanta) and by 2020 it is projected to increase to 75% if successful interventions are not implemented. As of August 2014 Georgia has 458 CNMs; the fourth highest in the country. They are significantly concentrated in the Atlanta metro area and not dispersed into the rural areas. Midwifery students are unable to find CNM preceptors in the rural and under-served areas where many are interested in practicing upon graduation. This project will use the Advocating for Change guidelines and resources from the University of Kansas’s Community Based Toolbox to modify the Georgia Preceptor Tax Incentive Program (GA-PTIP) in the 2016 legislative session. Currently only physicians receive the $10,000 income tax credit to precept. Modifying the policy to include CNMs as preceptors in community based training sites will support the education of midwives as well as increase their exposure in these underserved communities so they are likely to return to practice upon completion of their program.