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It has been a long time since we updated our supporters, and for that we apologize. A number of factors, including a request for confidentiality from people we've been working with, contributed to our apparent silence. Now, though, we are back in the business of networking and are thrilled to share successes and strategies with you!
The Birth and Wellness Center is working hard to become the first birth center in the St. Louis area. Nationally certified midwives will provide women's health and childbirth care to the St. Louis metro area. Our team is currently providing this care in a home-based model.
We understand how important it is for women to have the birth center as an option for their maternity care, and we are anxious to start providing care in a birth center setting. As a new concept for this area, we have lots to do to educate regulators, form relationships with hospitals and physicians, and work through a regulating process with people who have never regulated a birth center before. We have made a lot of progress, but there is much yet to accomplish. Once we have a clear idea of when we will be able to open we will make big announcements on our website, Facebook page, and via our mailing list.
Great question!
Birth centers have been shown to be safe, satisfying places for women to receive health care and to give birth. Both the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) and the American Medical Association agree that accredited, freestanding birth centers are safe places to give birth. Studies in many respected journals have shown the benefits to women and babies that birth centers have to offer.
A birth center is not just a mini-hospital. A free-standing, accredited birth center operates according to the midwifery model of care. This model focuses on education, hands-on care, minimal intervention in normal birth, and appropriate referral to specialized care if needed. Birth centers are designed to feel like home, and to recognize the woman as the expert in her own health and birth.
A primary goal of the Birth and Wellness Center is to improve the health of the women and infants we serve. The midwifery model of care has been shown by many studies to do just that. According to the NY Times, the lives of 8,000 Amercian babies could be saved each year if we could improve our prematurity rates to match the rates that Sweden maintains, the safest country in the world for babies to be born. Interestingly, in Sweden, there is about 1 midwife for every 1,000 people, compared to 1 midwife for every 30,000 people in the U.S, and out-of-hospital birth is the norm in Sweden. The Times also points out that many babies are born prematurely due to early induction and cesarean. These procedures are reduced significantly when a woman receives prenatal care by midwives at a birth center, due to a focus on education, support, and encouraging women to take responsibility for their own health.
