Birth centers increase access to midwifery care.

Increasing access to midwives is listed as a key step to improving maternal outcomes in the 2022 White House Blueprint for Addressing the Maternal Health Crisis. Designed to center the midwifery model of care and located in neighborhoods, birth centers are crucial healthcare infrastructure to increase access to midwives.

Birth centers function to center midwives as experts in low-risk pregnancy and childbirth, specifically supporting birth as a normal physiologic process – not an illness that must be treated. Midwives are trained and licensed to provide all routine care for low-risk, uncomplicated pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and newborn care including common ailments, disorders, and emergencies. Midwives also assess risk early and continually throughout pregnancy and escalate care to physician partners as needed. 

In addition to access to midwifery care, birth centers are hubs for community health education and wellness, family engagement and midwifery education. Birth centers are a key part of a care economy, providing essential sites for the training and workforce development needed for a vibrant midwifery labor force that can make access to midwifery care possible for all.