In response to alarmingly high maternal mortality and morbidity rates in the Bronx, Borough President (BP) Vanessa Gibson recently released a Birthing Center Report that urgently called for establishing a borough-based birthing center.
Citywide the rates of maternal mortality remain staggeringly high, especially among Black and Latino women. About 25% of the pregnancy-associated deaths were of Brooklyn and Bronx residents, according to the latest report on Maternal Mortality and Severe Maternal Morbidity from the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH).
There were three established birthing centers statewide, and two in the city currently. The Bronx’s only birthing center, the Childbearing Center of Morris Heights, opened in 1988 and closed in 2012.
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“The Deputy Borough President and I are adamant and committed and intentional about this work,” said Gibson at a press conference with healthcare advocates, community leaders, and local stakeholders on Mar. 10. “We are the only borough in the city of New York, five boroughs, that is led by two women of color and so we take this work extremely personally when it comes to lifting up the voices of so many of our families in need.” The group called for the establishment of a local birthing center, better maternal healthcare policies, improved outreach efforts, and increased funding for healthcare programs.
“This is an issue that affects our people and so when we say this is a call to action and attention, it is. This is about saving lives. This work is about giving our mothers and women and children a fighting chance to live,” Gibson continued.
Maternal healthcare has been a longstanding priority for Gibson. Early in her administration, she formed the Bronx Maternal Health Consortium, hosted roundtables with maternal health providers, and worked on legislation to protect expectant mothers and increase awareness of fraudulent “crisis pregnancy centers.”
Deputy Bronx BP Janet Peguero agreed that the issue was deeply personal for her as a new mom. She used the Maryam Reproductive Health + Wellness clinic services during her pregnancy, she said.
“I understand the challenges and vulnerabilities that come with motherhood, and I know firsthand how vital it is to have access to safe, compassionate, and culturally sensitive care,” Peguero said. “The maternal health crisis in the Bronx cannot be ignored any longer. We must do more to support mothers and birthing people in our borough, ensuring they have the resources, care, and options they deserve.”
It’s important to note that a clinic is separate from a birthing center. Birthing centers focus on providing holistic services before, during, and after a person gives birth. Such a facility is staffed by healthcare professionals like midwives, nurses, social workers, case managers, physicians, and doulas. They can help craft an individual birthing plan and deliver children outside of a traditional hospital, which helps lower costs for patients.
Birthing centers can handle “low-risk pregnancies” and make referrals to nearby hospitals in case of complications, and individuals with “high-risk pregnancies” can use a center as a resource for prenatal, postpartum, and educational services.
“We know from evidence and experience that the outcomes at birth centers for low-risk pregnancies are excellent and lower cost,” said Myla Flores, founder of the Birthing Place, co-founder of Womb Bus and Maryam Reproductive Health + Wellness, and president of the New York State Birth Center Association. “Most importantly, they provide care that fully engages expectant parents in their pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care.”
The biggest hurdle to establishing more birthing centers is getting enough funding to obtain a Certificate of Need (CON) and being approved by the state’s Department of Health (NYS DOH). This is because most birthing centers are typically small and community-based facilities that serve low- and middle-income families with little capital. The two in the city continue to struggle due to delayed and low insurance reimbursement rates for their services and insufficient staffing, said the report.
In 2021, Governor Kathy Hochul signed New York’s Midwifery Birth Center Bill into law, which advocates hoped would reduce the red tape common to establishing birthing centers and give midwives a more central role in deciding how these centers are regulated.
Coming one step closer to seeing a birthing center in the Bronx is exciting and fulfilling for SaveArose Foundation Co-founder Bruce McIntyre, who lost his partner in April of 2020 due to medical negligence throughout her entire pregnancy and — with Flores — was part of the effort to get the birth center bill passed. He is also a member of City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams’ maternal health steering committee.
“It’s been a long journey, having to navigate grief and navigate parenting,” said McIntyre. “We’ve been waiting on these regulations to come through, so this is a step closer for us to bring our dreams to fruition and create a space where Black, Brown, and Indigenous women are being prioritized and no longer seen as an afterthought. This is truly a revolutionary moment for us, and [for] moving forward as a community and moving forward as a society.”