Understanding how a federal education policy could reshape the maternal-health landscape, deepen existing gaps, and influence outcomes for mothers, babies, and communities across the country.

Maternal health in the United States remains in a state of crisis, and the latest 2025 March of Dimes Report Card makes that clear. The nation holds a D+, with a 10.4% preterm birth rate meaning nearly 380,000 babies were born too soon in 2024. Several states, particularly in the South, received failing grades. Racial disparities persist: Black and Native moms continue to face significantly higher rates of preterm birth and maternal complications.

At a time when progress is stagnant, policies outside of healthcare, especially those affecting education pathways can have powerful downstream effects on maternal health. One recent proposal from the U.S. Department of Education (DOE) could influence who is able to enter and sustain careers essential to maternal care.

What the Department of Education Is Proposing

The DOE recently introduced a proposal to narrow which graduate programs qualify as “professional degrees.”

The proposed change emerged from the Department’s negotiated rulemaking discussions as part of a broader effort to standardize graduate-level classifications. The DOE’s draft language would limit “professional degree” recognition to programs that (1) lead directly to state licensure; (2) are traditionally doctoral-level; and (3) match a narrow set of established program categories like medicine, dentistry, law, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, and theology. Because many maternal-health-related fields such as nursing, midwifery, public health, social work, and behavioral health do not fit neatly into those specific program codes, they would lose their professional designation under the proposed criteria.

Historically, this designation included a broad range of health-related programs that support maternal health, such as:

• Nursing (MSN, DNP, CNM pathways)
  

• Public Health (MPH, MCH, DrPH)
  

• Social Work (MSW)
  

• Mental and behavioral health
  

• Community health and health sciences
  
  

Under the new proposed criteria, many of these programs would no longer be classified as professional degrees,a category that would instead focus almost exclusively on doctoral-level fields like medicine, dentistry, veterinary medicine, pharmacy, law, and theology.

This reclassification affects:

• Federal loan limits
  

• Eligibility for certain loan-forgiveness programs
  

• University aid allocation
  

• Perceived value of the profession
  

• Who can realistically afford to enter these fields
  
  

The policy is not finalized, but its implications are broad and maternal health would stand to be significantly affected.

Why This Matters for Maternal Health

Maternal health is inherently interdisciplinary. The quality, safety, and continuity of care depend on a network of professionals across multiple fields, each bringing expertise that supports mothers and babies at different stages of the perinatal journey.

Nurses and Nurse-Midwives

They detect early warning signs like hypertension, hemorrhage, or infection and guide families through labor, delivery, postpartum recovery, newborn care, and early breastfeeding.

Public Health Professionals

They interpret data, monitor trends, lead maternal mortality review committees, and design interventions that reduce risk and improve community-level outcomes.

Social Workers

They help mothers navigate WIC, Medicaid, NICU stress, postpartum depression, housing instability, intimate partner violence, and other challenges linked to maternal outcomes.

Mental Health Providers

With postpartum depression affecting 1 in 5 mothers, access to qualified mental-health care is fundamental to reducing morbidity.

Community Health Workers

They bridge cultural, educational, and logistical gaps that often determine whether mothers receive comprehensive care.

These professions form the backbone of maternal health. When fewer people can afford to enter these fields, care breaks down long before pregnancy complications appear.

How a DOE Policy Could Affect Anyone Who May Become a Patient

This proposal is not simply a student or financial-aid issue. It affects every person who depends on care.

1. Worsening maternity care deserts

Over 1,100 U.S. counties already lack a hospital or provider offering obstetric services. When education becomes less accessible, these deserts expand.

2. Longer wait times and reduced prenatal access

Fewer trained professionals means fewer available appointments, overburdened clinics, and delay in catching complications.

3. Strain on NICUs and high-risk units

Premature and medically fragile infants require specialized care. If pathways into these professions narrow, staffing becomes unsafe.

4. Reduced postpartum and mental-health support

Mothers already struggle to access postpartum depression treatment, lactation care, and home-visiting services. Workforce reductions worsen these gaps.

5. Lower-quality, less coordinated care

Maternal health depends on collaboration among multiple professions. When one link weakens, the entire system becomes less effective.

Workforce Diversity Is a Maternal Health Intervention

Maternal outcomes improve when care teams reflect the communities they serve. Representation increases trust, communication, and patient safety, especially for populations at highest risk.

Policies that make education more financially burdensome disproportionately impact:

• Students of color
  

• First-generation students
  

• Students from low-income backgrounds
  
  

These are often the very professionals who return to serve high-need communities.

It’s also important to recognize that many of the affected degrees nursing, public health, social work, behavioral health are women-dominated fields. Policies that devalue or financially restrict these pathways disproportionately burden the workforce most responsible for supporting mothers and babies.

Maternal health disparities will not close without intentional effort to build and diversify these professions.

A Personal Perspective

I approach this issue from multiple angles. As a nurse manager, I understand regulations, compliance, and what quality care requires in practice. As a senior biomedical science student, I’ve studied the cellular and molecular mechanisms behind many maternal health complications. As a maternal-health advocate, I advocate on both the state and federal levels for policies that better protect mothers and babies. And as a survivor of life-threatening postpartum preeclampsia, I know firsthand how crucial it is to have skilled, well-prepared professionals present at every stage of maternal care.

This proposal is not abstract to me.
Its ripple effects would reach the very people maternal-health advocates fight for daily.

Why Advocates Should Pay Close Attention

Even though this policy originates in the education sector, its consequences could extend into:

• birth outcomes
  

• access to care
  

• maternal mental health
  

• NICU capacity
  

• continuity of postpartum care
  

• workforce retention
  

• community stability
  

• the ability to close disparities
  
  

If the U.S. is to move beyond a D+ in maternal and infant health, we need stronger, more supported pathways into all maternal-health professions not fewer.

Understanding policies like this helps advocates, professionals, and community members take informed action, ask informed questions, and participate meaningfully in shaping a healthier future for mothers and babies.

If this breakdown helped you…

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