On a warm day in Georgia, Katie Chubb stands in front of an empty lot, where she’s spent six years attempting to establish a birth center. “We’d have parking along the road,” she explains, sharing her vision for a space meant to provide a cozier alternative to traditional hospital births.
As a community organizer in a state that faces some of the highest rates of maternal and infant mortality in the U.S., she believes a birth center is urgently needed in Augusta. The area is surrounded by maternal health care deserts, making it difficult for expecting mothers to find adequate pregnancy care outside hospital settings.
Chubb envisions a clinic primarily staffed by midwives that collaborates with obstetricians. However, despite considerable support from the community and potential investors, she’s faced numerous challenges in her mission to expand safe birthing options.
Challenges of Birth in the U.S.
The push from the previous administration for Americans to have more children has been met with warnings over high maternal and infant mortality rates, highlighting the risks involved in childbirth. A growing distrust in medical institutions also exists, prompting some mothers to seek more alternatives.
For instance, Clarissa Viens, who was pregnant and didn’t want a hospital birth due to concerns about unnecessary interventions, opted for a home birth instead. Unfortunately, complications arose, and by the time she reached the hospital, it was too late. Her baby was born in the car, suffering from a cord prolapse that resulted in a brain injury.
Reflecting on that experience, Viens expresses that if a birth center had been available, the outcome for her baby could have been different.
Birth Centers in the U.S.
Currently, the U.S. has about 400 birth centers across more than 40 states. As demand for these facilities grows, they offer a safer option for low-risk pregnancies. Chubb, recalling her own experience, had to travel over two hours to find a center when she was pregnant. This realization spurred her to create her own organization, secure transfer agreements, and even advocate for legal changes in Georgia that would make it easier to open birth centers.
Yet, these centers still face hurdles, as partnerships with hospitals are essential for patient transfers.
Resistance from Hospitals
Chubb states that hospitals may resist collaboration because they do not want to lose potential revenue by sending patients to a birth center. “They are putting their profits over patient needs,” she argues. Attempts to engage local hospitals have been met with silence, although one facility claimed to provide complete women’s health services.
This struggle isn’t isolated to Augusta. Similar conflicts have emerged in places like Alabama and Mississippi, often rooted in concerns over malpractice. Obstetricians face higher risks of litigation, causing hesitation to collaborate with midwives.
Unique Concerns for Black Women
For Black women, the stakes are even higher. They are notably more likely to die from pregnancy-related issues compared to white women. Jonquette Sanders-White’s experience exemplifies the systemic challenges. After undergoing a cesarean and a hysterectomy during her latest birth, she later suffered a postpartum hemorrhage that went unnoticed by hospital staff, nearly resulting in her death.
She now plans to sue the hospital, citing lasting complications from the experience. Sanders-White reflects on how her racial identity might have affected her treatment: “I do think if I was another race, they would’ve been proactive,” she asserts.
She believes that a more holistic approach to childbirth might have led to better care and outcomes. For her, the pressing need for options beyond traditional hospitals is clear.
Chubb, fueled by stories like Sanders-White’s, remains determined to push for her birth center. Weekly inquiries from the community show there’s a genuine need for such a facility. Having grown up in the U.K., where midwifery is more prevalent, she sees her efforts as a response to the injustices and inequalities in the U.S. healthcare system.
“Especially with lack of patient autonomy,” she notes, “and choices.”
