health department

Midwife Stephanie Mitchell speaks at the Mothers of Gynecology monument in Montgomery, Ala., in August 2023. Mitchell is trying to open a birth center in Alabama and has sued the state. Supporters say such centers could improve birth outcomes in the South, which has some of the highest maternal and infant mortality rates in the country. (Anna Claire Vollers/Stateline)

Hospitals block much-needed birth centers in the South
BY: - August 14, 2023

When Katie Chubb announced in 2021 she was planning to open a freestanding birth center in Augusta, Georgia, it seemed like everybody in town was excited about it. She met with local physicians and nurses who said they would welcome her Augusta Birth Center as a provider of midwifery services for low-risk pregnancies. Hundreds of […]

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