Growing community birth centers is a public health strategy to improve perinatal health and meet Healthy People 2030 goals.

Birth centers are an underutilized strategy that can help meet Healthy People 2030’s goal to “increase the proportion of pregnant women who receive early and adequate prenatal care. “ According to HP 2030, less than two thirds of all pregnant people receive early and adequate prenatal care, and the situation is “getting worse.”  Notably, HP 2023’s assessment underestimates the problem because it is based on the Adequacy of Prenatal Care Utilization Index (APNCU), which only measures the number of visits a pregnant person receives – not the length of the visits or the quality of care provided within them.

Birth centers improve the adequacy of prenatal care in terms of both the overall amount of time spent with families (higher number and longer duration of visits) and the comprehensive nature of birth center prenatal visits. Birthing people can enter birth center care earlier than typical prenatal care. Compared to the average 15-minute prenatal appointment in the medical model, prenatal appointments in the midwifery model average 30-60 minutes each, including individualized education and counseling. This extra time enables the family to personally connect with their midwife and to address a holistic range of issues, including  social determinants of health such as food access.. For example,  midwives inquire and educate about prenatal and postpartum nutrition, mental and emotional well-being, and the importance of rest, family and community support.