Women in California today have fewer places to give birth than they did a decade ago.

Legislation signed by Governor Gavin Newsom in October aims to create more options for them by makin.. easier for birth cen.. to operate outside of hospitals.

The Freedom to Birth Act by Assemblymember Mia Bonta, a Democrat from Oakland, stream.. burdensome licensure requirements that have prevented birth centers from receiving state approval without licensure.

Birth centers frequently can't contract with health insurers or Medi-Cal.

That leaves patients who can't pay cash unable to use midwives or birth centers.

The legislation was introduced and signed after a two year CalMatters project.

Reporters revealed that vast areas of California have no hospitals or birth centers following dozens of closures.

Birth centers, which are usually owned and operated by midwives, specialize in low risk out-of-hospital births.

Over the past three years, at least 20 birth centers have closed in California, according to CalMatters reporting and the California chapter of the American Asso.. of Birth Centers.

Of the roughly 30 facilities left, only four are licensed by the state public health department.

The birth center closures come at the same time that hospitals have closed dozens of labor and delivery wards.

Most births happen in hospitals, but midwives deliver a growing number of babies in the state planned out of hospital.

Births increased by 30% over the past decade, even as birth rates overall declined, according to data from the Medical Board of California.

The new law gets rid of the rule that .. centers must operate within 30 minutes of a hospital with labor and delivery services, and drops overlapping Medi-Cal requirements.

The measure, passed unanimously in the Assembly and the State.

For CalMatters, I'm Mia Henry, with reporting by Kristen Hwang.