HB 6438 Summary

• Establishes licensing requirements for freestanding birth centers in Michigan as a new health facility type, defining them as agencies providing midwifery care, low-risk deliveries, and newborn care outside hospitals.

• Creates Part 207 governing freestanding birth center operations, including requirements for written policies, emergency equipment, personnel qualifications, and restrictions on procedures (prohibits general anesthesia, labor induction with drugs, vacuum/forceps delivery, and continuous fetal monitoring).

• Limits freestanding birth centers to patients with low-risk pregnancies and requires transfer to hospitals for breech presentations, multiple gestations, pregnancies outside 36-42 weeks gestation, or other center-defined risk factors.

• Sets initial licensure application fee at $2,000 and annual facility license fee at $500.00 for freestanding birth centers.

• Exempts freestanding birth centers from certificate of need requirements and changes terminology in statutes from "women" to "individuals" in midwifery practice definitions.