H 3875

South Carolina General Assembly
126th Session, 2025-2026
Bill 3875
Indicates Matter Stricken
Indicates New Matter
(Text matches printed bills. Document has been reformatted to meet World Wide Web specifications.)
A bill
TO AMEND THE SOUTH
CAROLINA CODE OF LAWS BY ENACTING THE "PERINATAL INTEGRATION ACT OF 2025"; AND
BY ADDING SECTION 44-89-110 SO AS TO REQUIRE THE DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC HEALTH TO
PROMULGATE REGULATIONS THAT INTEGRATE MIDWIVES AND BIRTHING CENTERS INTO THE
ORGANIZATION OF PERINATAL LEVELS OF CARE.
Whereas, collaboration
among health professionals can improve safety and quality, particularly when
care is transferred from low-resource to high-resource settings; and
Whereas, poor
coordination of care across providers and birth settings has been associated
with adverse maternal newborn outcomes; and
Whereas, South Carolina
has a Midwifery Integration Score of thirty-four out of one hundred according
to a 2018 study "Mapping integration of midwives across the United States:
Impact on access, equity, and outcomes" by Vedam S, Stoll K, MacDorman M, Declercq
E, Cramer R, Cheyney M, et al. In this study, lower scores were correlated with
lower rates of physiologic birth, more obstetric interventions, and more
adverse neonatal outcomes; and
Whereas, midwives and
birthing centers in a community setting should be afforded access to the
initiation of smooth transitions for mothers who encounter complications during
childbirth; and
Whereas, the ability of
midwives and birthing centers to function autonomously to their full scope of
practice in community settings, in collaboration with other members of the
health system, can enhance the cost effectiveness and accessibility of maternity
care, particularly in rural or impoverished communities. Now, therefore,
Be it enacted by the
General Assembly of the State of South Carolina:
SECTION 1.  This act may be cited as the "Perinatal Integration Act of 2025."
SECTION 2.  Chapter 89, Title 44 of the S.C. Code is amended by
adding:
    Section
44-89-110. (A) For purposes of this
section:
       (1)
"Integrate" means to facilitate the full exercise of a scope of practice,
autonomy, self-regulation, collaboration, and a smooth transition between
midwives, birthing centers, and hospitals that provide perinatal services.
"Integrate" does not mean to supervise midwives or birthing centers.
       (2)
"Perinatal levels of care" means the regulatory implementation of perinatal
services.
    (B)
The department shall promulgate regulations that recognize midwives within the
definition of facilities and integrate midwives and birthing centers into the
organization of perinatal levels of care. These regulations must include, but
are not limited to:
       (1)
access to physician-to-provider consultation available twenty-four hours a day;
       (2)
transfer methods and protocols from a midwife or birthing center to a hospital
within a fifty-mile radius that provides level one or higher perinatal
services;
       (3)
access to professional continuing education relating to safe transfers and the
escalation of care; and
       (4)
the collection of data on transfer outcomes to evaluate the effectiveness and
safety of the transfer of care from a midwife or birthing center to a hospital.
    (C)
Nothing in this section may be construed to:
       (1)
allow or require the department or hospitals to promulgate regulations or
requirements that restrict the scope of practice, change existing licensure
requirements, or impose any other regulation or requirement on midwives or
birthing centers, other than methods and protocols for the transfer of a
patient to a hospital; or
       (2)
require hospitals to give midwives hospital-admitting privileges.
SECTION 3.  This act takes effect upon approval
by the Governor.
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This web page was last updated on January 30, 2025 at 12:12 PM