RFP: Midwife-Led Group Prenatal Care & Maternal Health Services

Request for Proposals

Midwife-Led Group Prenatal Care & Maternal Health Services

Healthy Start San Diego & Riverside

A paid contracting opportunity for Licensed Midwives, Certified Nurse Midwives, and/or community-based providers

RFP Number

HSSD+R Midwifery RFP-26-08

Issue Date

August 27, 2026

Questions Due

September 4, 2026, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time

Proposals Due

September 11, 2026, at 5:00 PM Pacific Time

Global Communities is seeking licensed midwives to partner with our Healthy Start program in Riverside County. We welcome responses from individual practitioners, small practices, birth centers, and community-based organizations. We are particularly interested in providers who reflect the communities we serve and who are committed to increasing access to culturally responsive prenatal, postpartum, lactation, and maternal health support.

This is a paid opportunity. The essential service is weekly facilitation of group prenatal care in Riverside County. Additional activities may be included based on provider interest, program needs, and cost.

About Healthy Start

Global Communities' Healthy Start programs support families from pregnancy through the baby's first year of life. Services include home visiting, health education, lactation support, care coordination, mental health referrals, and connections to community resources.

We prioritize communities experiencing barriers to care and disparities in birth outcomes, including Black/African American families, refugee and immigrant communities, and other historically underserved populations.

Our goal: Improve health outcomes through increased access to the clinical services of culturally responsive midwives in Riverside and San Diego Counties.

Services We Are Seeking

Core Service

WEEKLY GROUP PRENATAL CARE IN RIVERSIDE COUNTY

The selected provider will facilitate weekly group prenatal care in Riverside County, with up to 12 weeks without sessions to accommodate holidays, vacations, illness, training, and other scheduling needs.

• Facilitate approximately two hours of group prenatal care each week, including education, peer support, opportunities for individual questions, and preventative prenatal screening services.
• Prepare for each session and complete follow-up activities such as documentation, referrals, and coordination with Healthy Start staff.
• Cover topics such as pregnancy and childbirth, nutrition, lactation, urgent maternal warning signs, postpartum health, newborn care, and preparation for birth and parenting.
• Provide basic clinical checks within the provider’s scope of practice, which may include blood pressure, weight, preeclampsia screening, fundal height measurement, and fetal heart tone auscultation.
• Identify participants who may need additional care and make timely referrals or warm handoffs to appropriate clinical, social, lactation, behavioral health, or Healthy Start services.
• Participate in reasonable outreach and recruitment activities, including sharing Healthy Start materials through community networks or social media.
• Submit monthly documentation showing sessions completed, topics covered, referrals made, and the number of participants attending. Global Communities will support development of simple data collection tools.
• Provide or identify qualified backup coverage when possible to support continuity during illness, vacation, or scheduling conflicts.
• Participant recruitment and retention are shared responsibilities between Global Communities and the provider. The Healthy Start program seeks to engage approximately 50 unique adult participants annually through the Riverside County prenatal groups.

Important: These activities supplement and do not replace a participant’s usual prenatal, primary, pediatric, or emergency care.

Additional Optional Services

Global Communities will decide which optional services to include in the final contract based on provider interest, program needs, and cost. Providers may propose one, several, or none of the optional services below.

• Core-partner and Consortium participation: Attend occasional Healthy Start partner meetings and Consortium activities. Provide an hourly attendance rate.
• Staff and community training: Facilitate training connected to project deliverables, such as urgent maternal warning signs, lactation, pregnancy, childbirth, postpartum health, or newborn care. Provide an hourly facilitation rate.
• In-home prenatal or postpartum checks: Provide supplemental visits for clients experiencing barriers to usual care. Provide an all-inclusive visit rate that includes travel or mileage, and specify the geographic areas you are willing to cover.
• Midwifery and IBCLC access workgroup: In collaboration with project staff, facilitate a monthly workgroup focused on increasing access to midwifery and IBCLC care. Provide an hourly facilitation rate, including estimated follow-up time after each meeting.

Who We Encourage to Apply

• California Licensed Midwives (LMs) and Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs) who meet applicable licensing and practice requirements, including current Basic Life Support and Neonatal Resuscitation certification, as applicable to their role and scope.
• Providers with experience facilitating group prenatal care, education, support groups, or community-based maternal health activities
• Providers with experience serving communities with high infant mortality risks, including Black, immigrant, refugee, or other historically underserved communities
• Providers with lived experience or strong cultural alignment with Healthy Start priority communities
• Providers able to deliver in-person weekly group prenatal care in Riverside County
• Providers able to identify backup coverage or describe a realistic continuity plan
• Providers interested in birth equity and increasing access to midwifery and lactation care

What to Include in Your Proposal

Please send a clear, concise proposal. A response of approximately 2 to 5 pages, plus resumes and requested attachments, is generally sufficient. You may use the headings below or answer in another easy-to-follow format.

1. ABOUT YOUR PRACTICE OR ORGANIZATION

• Brief description of your practice, birth center, or organization
• Number of years in practice
• Counties and communities served
• Languages available
• Proposed Riverside County location for weekly group prenatal care, or your approach to identifying an appropriate location

2. RELEVANT EXPERIENCE

• Experience supporting pregnant and postpartum families
• Experience facilitating group prenatal care, prenatal education, support groups, or related services
• Experience providing maternal health screenings, education, referrals, and warm handoffs
• Experience serving Healthy Start priority communities
• Experience facilitating training, workgroups, or community collaboration, if proposing optional services

3. CAPACITY AND SERVICE APPROACH

• Your approach to weekly group prenatal care, including how long the sessions will be and what you will cover in terms of education and individual clinical screening activities
• Proposed location for group prenatal sessions
• Proposed schedule for group prenatal care, including any estimates of dates when groups will not occur
• Typical number of participants you can safely and effectively support in each group
• Backup coverage or continuity plan for illness, vacation, emergencies, or scheduling conflicts
• Describe your proposed strategy for recruiting, engaging, and retaining participants in weekly prenatal groups, in order to reach the project goal of at least 50 unique adult participants per calendar year
• Existing referral sources, community partnerships, social media platforms, or outreach networks that could support enrollment
• Which optional services you are interested in providing, if any, including geographic areas you are willing to cover for in-home visits, if applicable

4. MIDWIFE QUALIFICATIONS

• Name and role of the staff implementing this work
• Current California license, credentials, and applicable furnishing number or practice information for each person listed, including BLS and Neonatal Resuscitation, as applicable
• Participation in organized midwifery peer review, if applicable
• Brief information about additional midwives or backup providers
• Resume or CV for the lead midwife or clinical director. Additional resumes may be requested during review or contracting.
• How your practice supports quality, participant safety, clinical oversight, and appropriate referral to higher levels of care

5. PRICING INFORMATION

• All-inclusive weekly rate for the core group prenatal care service, including facilitation, preparation, clinical screening, documentation, referrals, routine supplies, and follow-up.
• Any one-time start-up costs or clinical supplies not included in the weekly rate
• Hourly rate to attend core-partner or Consortium activities, if proposed
• Hourly rate to facilitate staff or community training, if proposed
• All-inclusive rate for each in-home prenatal or postpartum check, including travel or mileage, if proposed
• Hourly rate for Midwifery and IBCLC access workgroup facilitation, including estimated follow-up hours after each meeting, if proposed
• Please submit pricing information separately from the narrative proposal

6. REFERENCES OR OTHER EVIDENCE OF QUALITY

• Please provide two to three professional references and/or other evidence that demonstrates the quality of your services. This may include references from partner organizations, de-identified client testimonials or satisfaction summaries, public reviews, letters of recommendation, or descriptions of similar services. Do not include identifiable client health information.

Scope of Work

Selected contractor(s) will provide midwife-led group prenatal care and any optional services included in the executed contract. The final schedule, Riverside County location, service volume, rates, reporting expectations,