NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A7332
SPONSOR: Wright TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
doula awareness and education program
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
Facilitates the creation of an ongoing public awareness and education
program on doulas and how beneficial they are to pregnancies.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:
The state law is amended by adding a new section 207-B to article 2 to
increase awareness on doulas.
JUSTIFICATION:
Maternal mortality has been a persistent issue that has plagued our
country. Unfortunately, in the United States racial disparities have
reinforced inequitable access to proper maternal care. This along with
other factors such as the community, facility, patient, and provider has
led to an increase in maternal deaths amongst Black women. A doula is a
trained professional who provides emotional, physical, and enlightening
support during pregnancy, delivery, and birth. They can help decrease
the maternal mortality rate especially for women with higher risk preg-
nancies.By establishing a doula awareness and education program more
people will be informed about what a doula is and how beneficial they
can be to a pregnancy. There are often gaps when providing individual-
ized attention to parents during labor. A doula can fill this gap by
providing continuous and personalized support to ensure the safety of
the birthgiver. The birth of a child is something so beautiful - some-
thing a parent should not have to lose their life for. By increasing
awareness of doulas and how they can improve pregnancy we can be saving
lives that do not need to be lost.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
New bill.
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:
None.
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
7332
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
March 25, 2025
___________
Introduced by M. of A. WRIGHT -- read once and referred to the Committee
on Health
AN ACT to amend the public health law, in relation to establishing a
doula awareness and education program
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The public health law is amended by adding a new section
2 207-b to read as follows:
3 § 207-b. Doula awareness and education program. 1. The department
4 shall conduct an ongoing public awareness and education program on
5 doulas and how beneficial they are to pregnancies.
6 2. The department shall produce and distribute educational materials
7 on the benefits of having a doula; a trained professional who provides
8 emotional, physical, and enlightening support during pregnancy, deliv-
9 ery, and birth. Such materials shall be made to available appropriate
10 health care providers for distribution to patients. On its website, the
11 department shall also publish information about the advantages of doulas
12 in reducing mortality rates for pregnant individuals and the increased
13 risk of this occurring for pregnant individuals who are primarily Black.
14 3. No provision of this section shall be deemed to prohibit the utili-
15 zation and distribution of educational materials relating thereto
16 produced by any public, private or governmental entity, in lieu of the
17 department's production of such materials.
18 4. The department shall periodically review available data on the
19 mortality rate of pregnant individuals in relation to doulas and update
20 the information provided in its educational materials and on its inter-
21 net website, as appropriate.
22 5. The department shall report every three years, commencing January
23 first, two thousand twenty-eight, to the governor, the temporary presi-
24 dent of the senate and the speaker of the assembly on the implementation
25 of this section and any recommendations for furthering the purposes of
26 this section.
27 § 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD10386-01-5
