FREESTANDING BIRTH CENTER LOOKING FOR NEW SPACE IN LANE COUNTY

Our Community Birth Center makes strides toward opening

Lane County, OR – August 12, 2020 – Pregnant people in Lane County are looking for care and finding their birth options limited. Currently, there are no birth centers in our area. Fortunately, Our Community Birth Center, a new local 501(c)(3) organization, is making progress toward opening a new birth center to restore access to this crucial service.

The United States and our local community are currently facing two crises which highlight the importance of access to birth center care: 

  1. People are urgently seeking birth center care to reduce their risk of exposure to COVID-19, conserve hospital resources, and obtain the personalized support they desire and deserve during these challenging times. Our Community Birth Center has received an increase in inquiries about birth center services since the pandemic started.
  2. The United States has a long-standing crisis of deadly outcomes for mothers (Reducing Maternal Mortality, New York Times, 2019). Black, Indigenous, and Women of Color are two-to-four times more likely to die around the time of childbirth than white women. This crisis is due to systemic racism within our healthcare institutions, implicit bias by health care providers, and overuse of cesarean surgery for birth. 

By offering midwifery birth center services, Our Community Birth Center will reduce unnecessary and expensive medical interventions that put women at higher risk of complications in subsequent pregnancies. The cesarean birth rate at hospitals in Lane County averages 34%, more than double the World Health Organization recommendation (Oregon Health Authority Birth Data, 2019; WHO statement on caesarean section rates, 2015). Research shows that birth center care results in high normal vaginal birth rates, fewer preterm and low birth weight babies, higher rates of breastfeeding, high client satisfaction, and reduced financial burden on clients and the healthcare system (Strong Start for Mothers and Newborns Initiative, 2018).

Our Community Birth Center is actively seeking a facility in the Springfield-Eugene area to lease and remodel into the new birth center. The project has already raised over $130,000 in donations toward start-up expenses including a recent $10,000 grant from the Lane County Board of Commissioners. Vice President of the Board of Directors and Certified Nurse Midwife, Chris Heritage, says “We are excited and honored to be doing this work to reinstate this birth option in our local community. We are currently looking for a property owner to make an investment in the health of our community by donating or leasing space for the new birth center.”

How will Our Community Birth Center make an impact on a local level?

  1. Our Community Birth Center is committed to a social and racial justice journey, which starts with how parents and babies are cared for during birth. Staff will receive on-going equity, social justice, and anti-racist training and are given the time and space they need to listen to clients and personalize care.
  2. The organization will accept clients regardless of ability to pay or type of insurance. Services will be available through health insurance and sliding scale for cash pay.
  3. COVID-19 exposure risk reduction occurs naturally with birth center care due to the small number of staff, medical standard cleaning and disinfecting procedures, easy 24-7 phone access to midwives, and postpartum home visits for both mom and baby so that parents do not have to leave home with their newborn.
  4. Because there are no other birth centers in Lane, Douglas, or Coos Counties, people have driven up to four hours to access local birth center care in the past. The birth center provides an accessible community-based birth option for people living rurally.
  5. Birth center care provides time-intensive wrap around support with low medical intervention. By supporting and optimizing the normal healthy pregnancy and birth processes, the birth center improves outcomes and lowers costs.

“Communities need birth centers,” says Dr. Vern Katz, retired obstetrician/perinatologist from Eugene who worked with the local birth center and nurse midwives for many years. “Birth centers can be an important part of the healthcare system that provide a safe option for childbirth. This is especially important during times of strain on the healthcare system, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.” 

People in Lane County are eagerly awaiting the opening of the new birth center. Ruhi Rubenstein, former Nurse Midwifery Birth Center client and mother of two says, “The opening timeline for the new birth center will definitely be a factor in our planning for a third child. I want that combination of quality, family focused attention with access to medical facilities should the need arise for all of my labor and birth experiences.” Our Community Birth Center is dedicated to opening as soon as possible to ensure access to essential birth center services in Lane County.

What can community members do to support Our Community Birth Center?

  1. Donate and volunteer: www.ourcommunitybirthcenter.org.
  2. Contact Our Community Birth Center if you or someone you know would like to invest in this important service to the community by leasing or donating space for the new birth center: OurCommunityBirthCenter@gmail.com.
  3. Stay up to date on social media: facebook.com/ourcommunitybirthcenter and instagram.com/ourcommunitybirthcenter.

Press Contact: 

AlexAnn Westlake, Executive Director & Certified Nurse Midwife, OurCommunityBirthCenter@gmail.com