There is just 1 birth center left in Massachusetts. What happened? What can we do about it?

• Commonwealth Magazine “Opinion: Take pregnant people seriously, support birth centers. Let science in to address failing maternity system.” by Cristina Alonso (Jan 1, 2023)

• Boston Globe “Opinion: Birth centers offer options. Why is there only one left in Massachusetts? With the closing of the North Shore Birth Center and the stalled reopening of the Cambridge Birth Center, it seems that midwifery care is often seen as dispensable.” by Nashira Baril, Katherine Gergen Barnett, and Mallika Sabharwal (Dec 30, 2022)

• Commonwealth Magazine “Hoping to deliver at a Massachusetts birth center? Good luck. Planned closure of North Shore facility will leave just one birthing center in the state.” by Shira Schoenberg (Nov 20, 2022)

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The formal Massachusetts legislative session which began January 2021, ended the morning of August 1, 2022 without the passage of key midwifery and maternal health legislation. The Health Care Financing Committee sent the Out-of-Hospital Birth Access and Safety Act, An Act to Expand Access to Nurse-Midwifery, and 7 other maternal health bills to study in early June, effectively killing the bills with no reason given and no vote. Though there were multiple attempts to resurrect the midwifery legislation be attaching them as amendments to other bills, none were successful.

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On July 20, hundreds of community members gathered to testify at a Department of Public Health Hearing in an effort to stop the planned closure of North Shore Birth Center by Beth Israel Lahey Health. “Everyone deserves to have the choice of where they give birth. Unfortunately, in Massachusetts, too few of us do have that choice.”

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“Black women are returning to having home births because they see it as having control over their bodies and their babies,” Vassell said. “You can see how many black women are dying while pregnant and during labor, why can’t we fix this?”

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On Tuesday, the Massachusetts House voted in favor of a consolidated budget amendment for public health that included $100K for Neighborhood Birth Center, a non-profit led by Black women to open Boston’s first freestanding birth center. Expanding access to midwifery and community birth settings outside of the hospital has been shown to have beneficial impacts on maternal and infant health as well as reduce health care costs. Currently, there are no fully operations birth centers in Eastern Massachusetts, and only one statewide, (Seven Sisters in Northampton). There are 400 birth centers across the U.S.; New Hampshire has four birth centers and Maine has three, both states with 80% fewer births each year than Massachusetts. We applaud the House’s decision to invest in community birth centers, and hope to see the Senate do the same.

Learn more about Neighborhood Birth Center: Watch their new 4 minute video!

Art by Molly Crabapple

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By Boston City Councilor Julia Mejia and Tiffany Vassell RN
April 20, 2022

Ask just about any Black or Brown mother or birthing person, and they can tell you their own story about trying to navigate the difficult and often unwelcoming birthing process here in Massachusetts. This is true for us, too.

Read the article.

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On April 13th, The Boston City Council unanimously passed a Resolution filed by City Councilor Julia Meija: a RESOLUTION IN SUPPORT OF THE OUT-OF-HOSPITAL BIRTH ACCESS AND SAFETY ACT (H.2341/S.1519) AND RECOGNIZING BLACK MATERNAL HEALTH WEEK IN THE CITY OF BOSTON.

The City Council prioritized this passage in recognition of Black Maternal Health Week in the city of Boston and the need to prioritize public policies that will improve the dismal outcomes for birthing people of color and their babies in the United States. The Resolution underscored that home birth rates have risen dramatically during the ongoing COVID-19 public health crisis. Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs), who perform most home births, are already licensed in 37 states across the country.

“Births at home or in birth centers are a safe, beneficial, and valid reproductive choice that is currently denied to most birthing people here in Massachusetts,” Mejia stated during the Council meeting. City Councilor Kendra Lara added, “We are acknowledging the importance of safer, more equitable access to midwifery care options.”

Even prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the United States had the highest maternal mortality rate among developed countries, affecting Black women at a much higher rate than their white counterparts.

READ THE RESOLUTION

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The home birth rate in Massachusetts rose 47% since the pandemic began according to a new CDC report. This surpasses the 22% rise in home births nationally. The increase was significantly higher among Black birthing people than for the overall population, a trend that has been previously attributed to the intersection of the pandemic and the Black maternal health crisis.

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At a June 7, 2021 hearing of the Massachusetts legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health, legislators heard an outpouring of support for the Out-of-Hospital Birth Access and Safety Act from mothers, midwives, a nurse, a professor of public health, legislators, and organizations including the Bay State Birth Coalition, Resilient Sisterhood Project, Planned Parenthood, ACNM Massachusetts, National Partnership for Women and Families, and Massachusetts League of Women Voters.

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Massachusetts State Representative Kay Khan and Senator Becca Rausch refiled the Out-of-Hospital Birth Access and Safety Act on February 19, 2021. The bill would create a pathway to licensure for Certified Professional Midwives practicing in Massachusetts. Most home births are attended by CPMs, who are eligible for licensure in 36 other states including New Hampshire, Vermont, Maine, and Rhode Island.

The bill also ensures that families who use MassHealth/Medicaid can have their CPM care covered. Licensure also expands opportunities for private insurers to reimburse for CPM care.

In the pandemic, there has been a surge in demand for out-of-hospital birthing options that could be provided by Certified Professional Midwives.

As of March 9, 41 legislators have signed on as cosponsors of the legislation.

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