The American Medical Association has approved a restructuring of maternity care services codes in its Current Procedural Terminology code set for 2027, effective Jan. 1, 2027, according to a June 12 news release.
Seven things to know:
1. The changes replace the current “global” maternity code, which bundles nine months of care into a single billable service, with separate reporting across four phases: antepartum care, labor management, delivery and postpartum care.
2. In total, 17 codes are deleted, 12 are added and six are revised. The AMA is releasing the codes ahead of its standard publication schedule to give physicians, payers, coders and EHR vendors additional preparation time.
3. The restructuring followed nearly two years of collaboration between the CPT Editorial Panel, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists and other national specialty societies.
4. All current antepartum and postpartum codes will be deleted and replaced with per-encounter evaluation and management codes, supporting telehealth reporting and aligning with existing E/M rules.
5. New labor management codes will be reported daily, split into “Initial Day” and “Subsequent Day” categories with two complexity levels: straightforward and complex.
6. New delivery codes are organized by type: vaginal delivery, vaginal birth after cesarean, and primary versus repeat cesarean. Separate codes were added for third- and fourth-degree laceration repair and hysterectomy following cesarean delivery.
7. CMS is expected to propose relative values for the new codes in July 2026 following a February 2026 RUC submission. Final values are expected in November 2026. The AMA said the changes are anticipated to be budget neutral in aggregate.
Read the full release here.
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