Our Future Birth and Wellness Center
We're Changing Mississippi's Maternity Care System
Over the past ten years, we have been serving pregnant women in Mississippi, initially with the deployment of our community health worker program that has significantly improved prenatal health and birth and breastfeeding outcomes.
In 2021, we opened a women’s clinic and integrated nurse midwifery and community health worker services, with very positive health results. Part-time nurse midwives provided prenatal care that was enhanced by community health worker services (dietary education, health coaching, structured exercises, childbirth education, and doula support).
Once again, we substantially improved prenatal health and birth and breastfeeding outcomes; however, our impact was limited because our nurse midwives could not deliver the babies in our facility. Unfortunately, our clients were transferred to physicians who delivered their babies in hospitals, and others delivered at home. Our experience confirmed that when low-risk pregnant women receive midwifery care, are coached to maintain a healthy maternal body weight through dietary changes and physical activity, and are taught natural childbirth strategies, they are likely to experience healthy, full-term, vaginal births, and to breastfeed their newborns. Also, they and their babies are less likely to die within the first year of life following the birth.
The midwifery model isn't new to Mississippi. Prior to the 1950s, Black lay midwives delivered 90% of Black babies in the home due to systemic racism in hospitals. In the 1970's nurse midwives were integrated into the hospital system, but they soon disappeared. Over the past 40 years nurse midwives have been virtually forced out of the Mississippi health care system. There are approximately 35 certified nurse midwives registered in the State. Yet, only a handful practice midwifery care, and they must do so under the control of physicians to whom they must pay a high monthly fee to practice in Mississippi. Others don't practice because there are no midwifery jobs. Currently, there are only three hospitals that staff a few nurse midwives.
Therefore, the freestanding birth center is the most conducive healthcare facility where nurse midwives can freely practice. So, we sat out on the long, arduous journey of changing regulations and raising $10 million to make the midwifery-led birth center an integral part of the Mississippi maternity healthcare system. We intend to build a network of freestanding birth and wellness centers in Mississippi.
Below is the timeline of our journey:
- 2020: Partnered with the Mississippi State Department of Health to change state regulations for free standing birth centers.
- 2021: Opened midwifery clinic
- 2022: Developed plan to build freestanding birth centers in Mississippi
- 2023: Purchased land to build the first freestanding birth and wellness center.
- 2024: Partnered with the CABC to change state regulations for free standing birth centers.
- 2025: Produced architectural/engineering plans and received MSDH approval.
- 2025: Launched $20 million capital campaign to build 6 birth and centers over the next 5 years.
- 2026: Build 1st birth and wellness center
Getty Israel, Founding CEO/Executive