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New Wilmington birth center may be on the way

August 9, 2024 |By Jennifer Antonik

A new birth center in Wilmington has been proposed to help reduce disparities in health care for Black families. l PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDRAE RICKETTS/UNSPLASH WILMINGTON — Birthing families in Delaware may have new options when a new birth center opens its doors in the heart of Wilmington. Shané Darby says

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A new birth center in Wilmington has been proposed to help reduce disparities in health care for Black families. l PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDRAE RICKETTS/UNSPLASH[/caption] WILMINGTON — Birthing families in Delaware may have new options when a new birth center opens its doors in the heart of Wilmington. Shané Darby says her organization, Black Mothers in Power, has been working to improve disparities in perinatal care for Black families since 2019 and is now excited to expand their efforts. Black Mothers In Power Inc. has filed a letter of intent with the Health Resources Board to open a “free-standing Birth Center that will provide safe, culturally reverent, midwifery-led maternal healthcare for all.” The organization filed a letter of intent, the first step to notify the board it plans to open a new facility, was filed in mid-February. However, the board has not received such an application yet. Birth centers offer a birthing environment for families that is more like home than a traditional hospital setting. Many birth centers like the one already established in Wilmington or the one proposed by Black Mothers In Power Inc. also have water birth capabilities. They also tend to offer prenatal care and education for families, as well as collaborations with local medical practices such as hospitals so they can offer continuity in care in the event of an emergency. Darby hopes to open a birth center in the heart of Wilmington with certified nurse midwives, doulas and other professionals. She has started discussions with Delaware State University and the Wilmington Housing Authority to make it a reality while she looks for funding. If Black Mothers In Power Inc. are successful in their bid to opn the new facility, it could help serve expecting mothers at a lower cost. A recent study by the American Association of Birth Centers, published in 2019, found that similar facilities can significantly lower the cost of maternity care and care for the first year afterward, citing average decreases of 21% and 15%, respectively. The letter of intent with the Health Resources Board indicates that the birth center would be at the Elwyn building at 321 E 11th St. in Wilmington. The Wilmington Housing Authority’s nonprofit, the Delaware Affordable Housing Group, purchased the Elwyn building for $3.2 million in July 2023 with hopes of offering its 64,000 square feet to groups that can offer a helping hand-up to the nearby community. “I was talking to the Wilmington Housing Authority and they said, ‘I think we have a great space for you.’ It was perfect. It landed in my lap. It’s on the east side of Wilmington and not far from Wilmington hospital [ChristianaCare] and Saint Francis,” Darby told DBT. “We’re still at the very developmental stage. We have the location, we’re just waiting on mechanical drawings to get something going with the location. I feel like we’re in a very good space to move forward.” The Wilmington Housing Authority did not return requests for comment. The letter of intent from Black Mothers in Power cites $152,000 needed to retrofit the Elwyn Building with renovations and upgrades fit for a small birth center space. According to Darby, the birth center is planned for a section of the first floor of the building with four exam rooms and two birthing rooms to include yoga balls, birthing bars and water birth supplies. “My goal is to have a birth center in every county, probably with new builds, and have midwifery programs at the University of Delaware and DSU and maybe even Wilmington University to give people more options. I imagine all of these things. And, of course, I hope we can then reduce these disparities,” Darby told DBT. A recent report from the Delaware Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy (OWAA) titled “Addressing Black maternal health disparities in Delaware” has highlighted the disparities for Black birthing families in the First State as well as the nation. The report stated that “Black women in the U.S. are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.” In Delaware, however, the number may be higher. A second report from the Delaware’s Maternal & Child Death Review Commission previously released a report stating that 50% of all pregnancy-related maternal deaths reviewed by the commission between its inception in 2011 and 2018 were Black women, while 44% were white and 6% were listed as other races. Of those deaths, causes included cardiopulmonary arrest during an emergency cesarean section, homicide, overdose, health issues such as diabetes or sepsis, and other issues. Maternal and perinatal statistics are tracked by various entities at the state and national levels, but are not included in Delaware’s health care spending and quality benchmarks through the Health Care Commission. Improved access to prenatal and maternal health care options could drastically improve those statistics, according to groups like the OWAA and Black Mothers in Power. However, a variety of factors, such as legislation, workforce development and retiring professionals, have hindered access across the state instead. Darby hopes her birth center, which would become the second birth center in Delaware, will help open some of those doors. Delaware has also seen a shortage of maternity care providers with the pool of OB-GYNs growing smaller. According to Delaware Business Times records, the First State had 243 OB-GYNs in 2022. In the same year, the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) found there to be 46 certified nurse midwives, which are advanced practice registered nurses by trade, or certified midwives in Delaware. Collectively, along with a handful of certified professional midwives licensed and registered in the First State, Delaware saw 10,816 live births in 2022. There are 10 registered and licensed certified professional midwives in Delaware, according to the Delaware Professional Regulation Online Services, as of press time. It also cites 67 certified nurse midwives in the state, however, the AMCB said there were only 41 in Delaware this year, suggesting that some which are registered in the state may not be actively practicing in the area. There are currently no certified midwives registered in Delaware. “Diversity in access is crucial in improving the disparities we see as a state and as a Black community. But, even without disparities, we will still need birth centers,” Darby said. “That’s how we will get to a point where we have minimal disparities. I don’t know if that’s in the next 50 years or not because we’re trying to rebirth hundreds of years of systems and ways of being.” “But we can definitely mitigate it and reduce the disparities in maternal health in Delaware and I think Delaware can definitely be a leader in these things,” she continued. “I’m excited to be at the forefront with our upcoming birth center.”