Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act

The Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act (MN § 144.1461), passed by the Minnesota State in 2021, addresses inequities in maternal health care. This legislation includes a requirement for hospitals with obstetric care and birth centers to develop or access a continuing education curriculum and must make available a continuing education course on anti-racism training and implicit bias.

Available Now: Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Course

The Minnesota Department of Health (MDH) has partnered with the University of Minnesota Center for Antiracism Research for Health Equity (CARHE) to develop a course that meets legislative criteria. 

A new curriculum designed for healthcare professionals to deepen their understanding of the impact of structural racism on the health and healthcare of Black and Indigenous birthing people is now available. The first course focuses on Black birthing people and is broken up into three segments for ease of completion. This course is available now by accessing it through the Minnesota Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Project on Diversity Science website.

Monitoring Implementation​

The Commissioner of Health, in coordination with the Minnesota Hospital Association, will monitor the implementation of the statute and may inspect course records or require reports. MDH’s Health Regulation Division will lead the monitoring component​:

• Hospitals and birth centers will be asked to attest to their compliance with this statute during the Hospital and Critical Access Hospital Licensing Renewal, beginning in October 2023​.
• MDH may review facility records as part of recertification survey or during a compliant investigation, if relevant​.
• Not seeking paperwork for each provider be submitted to MDH​.

Alternative Course Curriculum

Organizations can submit their anti-racism training curriculum for review. If the curriculum is determined to meet legislative all criteria the curriculum can be used by organizations to meet requirements of MN § 144.1461.

Submit your organization's curriculum

The following components are not required or reviewed by MDH but are included in statute and should be considered by the submitting organization:

• Hospitals and birth centers must make an annual refresher curriculum available, that reflects current trends on race, culture, identity, and anti-racism principles and institutional implicit bias.
• A certificate of course completion to another facility or to a course attendee upon request.

Minnesota Department of Health review

• Submitted curriculum will be reviewed by a multi-disciplinary group of State staff. Review criteria can be found in Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Training Criteria (PDF). Curriculum must meet all criteria to be posted by MDH and fulfill the legislative requirement.
• Organizations will be notified in writing if their curriculum meets the criteria or not. Any criteria that are not met will include notes for improvement.
• Organizations can re-submit curriculum for review.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Do I need to complete the course by December 31, 2022?
  • No – the legislation requires that initial continuing education courses under this subdivision must be made available by December 31, 2022. Hospitals, birth centers and health care providers do not have a deadline for completing the continuing education.
• Can I use curriculum developed by other organizations?
  • Yes – MDH is in the process of developing criteria and a review process for curriculum to ensure it meets the legislative requirements. Please check back here for more information soon.

Increasing Access to Midwife and Doula Care

The Dignity in Pregnancy and Childbirth Act, Sub. 3 outlines requirements to identify barriers to obtaining midwife and doula services for groups with the most significant disparities in maternal and infant mortality and morbidity, and develop procedures and services designed to increase the availability of midwife and doula services for these groups.

More information about this work can be found on the Maternal Care Access: Doula and Midwifery Services webpage.