Organizations in Boston, Northampton and Worcester to use grant funding to provide high quality maternal health care ? Organizations in Boston, Northampton and Worcester to use grant funding to provide high quality maternal health care ?

Boston - Working to close gaps in maternal health care services across Massachusetts, the Healey-Driscoll Administration today announced $1 million in grants to increase capacity and accessibility for freestanding community birth centers.

The Department of Public Health (DPH) awarded the Birth Center Capacity and Accessibility grants to three community-based organizations to support the development and operation of birth centers by covering facility costs, start-up expenditures, and the provision of comprehensive prenatal and postpartum care. The organizations are Neighborhood Birth Center in Boston, Seven Sisters Midwifery Birth Center in Northampton, and Worcester Community Midwifery, Inc. in Worcester.

“We want Massachusetts to be the best and healthiest place in the world not just for some, but for all families, all women and all people in our state. Birth centers have a critical role to play in ensuring that women receive high-quality care each step of the way in their pregnancies,” said Governor Maura Healey. “We are proud to support these three organizations in their efforts to expand access to birth centers across the state.”

“This funding complements our ongoing efforts to address inequities in maternal health care that disproportionately impact communities of color and rural communities,” said Lieutenant Governor Kim Driscoll. “Strengthening our reproductive health infrastructure will lead to better and more equitable health outcomes for birthing people across Massachusetts.”

Birth centers are stand-alone facilities that provide labor and delivery by midwives and prenatal, postpartum, and newborn care for low-risk pregnancies. Currently, Seven Sisters is the only birth center operating in the state, despite research indicating that this model is safe and improves maternal health outcomes including lower rates of cesarean deliveries compared to hospital births, as well as higher patient satisfaction and lower overall healthcare costs.

Research also suggests that culturally competent birth centers reduce racial disparities in maternal morbidity and mortality.

“Expanding birth center capacity in the state moves us forward in addressing systemic inequities in reproductive care,” said Secretary of Health and Human Services Kate Walsh. “Equitable, high-quality maternal health care, sadly, has not been a reality for far too many Massachusetts residents, especially in communities of color and in rural communities. This funding opens the door for more reproductive choices for residents."

Every birthing person’s journey is unique, and their care options should reflect that diversity,” said Public Health Commissioner Robbie Goldstein, MD, PhD. “Birth centers offer valuable alternatives to those who are not comfortable in or face challenges with traditional healthcare settings, ranging from lack of transportation to stigma and fear to the need for culturally affirming care. By investing in birth centers, we are creating a more inclusive, accessible maternal health care system for all.”

DPH has found that rates of severe maternal morbidity in Massachusetts had nearly doubled over the past decade and that these complications disproportionately impacted Black birthing people and those with disabilities. To address these recommendations, the administration created the Advancing Health Equity in Massachusetts (AHEM) initiative to combat health disparities in communities across the state, with a focus on racial and reproductive justice.

The grants prioritized investment in areas of the state identified in the AHEM initiative as experiencing the largest disparities in health across the board. The three awardees will use these funds to develop or enhance community-based birth centers with the goal of improving access to culturally competent prenatal, labor and delivery, and postpartum services, promoting racial equity and reproductive justice through person-centered birthing models, and expanding the midwifery workforce.

Worcester Community Midwifery will use the funds to refurbish a building and purchase equipment to open a birth center led by certified nurse-midwives. Neighborhood Birth Center will use the funds to contribute to building a community-based birth center in Roxbury, serving local families in a model grounded in reproductive and racial justice. Seven Sisters will use the funds to continue serving the families of Western Massachusetts.

This funding builds on $10 million awarded in August to 13 community-based organizations, including Neighborhood Birth Center and Seven Sisters Midwifery Birth Center, to support initiatives focused on advancing postpartum depression care, post-miscarriage mental health care, midwifery services, assisted reproductive technology, and other related perinatal services.

This one-time state-funded grant is administered by the Division of Pregnancy, Infancy & Early Childhood in DPH’s Bureau of Family Health & Nutrition. Funding will begin October 15, 2024 and run through June 30, 2025.

Earlier this year, Governor Healey signed into law a bill that overhauls maternal health practices in Massachusetts and expands coverage for midwifery, birth centers, doulas and screening and treatment for postpartum depression, among several other initiatives to save lives.