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Neighborhood Birth Center urges Boston to fund community birth centers and ease zoning barriers
Summary
A representative of Neighborhood Birth Center told the council that Massachusetts ranks low in birth center access and asked the city to invest in birth center infrastructure and help with zoning barriers.
Cara Burrell, executive director of Neighborhood Birth Center and participant in a national effort to expand community birth infrastructure led by people of color, spoke to the committee on April 22 about the need for more perinatal and birthing health options in Boston.
Burrell said birth center care is associated with better outcomes for Medicaid patients, citing a study she described as finding a 40 percent reduction in cesarean sections, a 26 percent reduction in preterm birth and a 20 percent reduction in low birth weight among birth center patients. She also said Massachusetts ranks poorly for birth center access, telling the committee that the state is “30 second in the country” for birth center availability.
Neighborhood Birth Center has been in development for 10 years, Burrell said, and has faced financing and zoning hurdles. She said most U.S. birth centers are financed through personal savings and lines of credit from owners, which she described as unsustainable. She urged the city to make investments in birth centers and perinatal options and said the center is hopeful to open soon.
Burrell said she would submit written testimony and invited councilors to the center’s ribbon cutting when it occurs.
The committee is continuing budget hearings; members and the public will have additional opportunities to comment at future sessions.
