9 August 2024
WILMINGTON — Birthing families in Delaware may have new options when a new birthing center opens its doors in the heart of Wilmington. Shané Darby says her organization, Black Mothers in Power, has been working to reduce disparities in perinatal care for Black families since 2019 and is now excited to expand her efforts.
Keywords:
You might also like
First-class digital partners
© 2024 Delaware Business Times
(Caption id=”attachment_238959″ align=”aligncenter” width=”1200″)
A new birthing center in Wilmington aims to help reduce health care disparities for black families. l PHOTO COURTESY OF ANDRAE RICKETTS/UNSPLASH (/caption)
WILMINGTON — New opportunities may be available for birthing families in Delaware as a new birthing center opens its doors in the heart of Wilmington.
Shané Darby says her organization, Black mothers in powerhas been working to reduce disparities in perinatal care for Black families since 2019 and is now excited to expand its efforts.
Black Mothers In Power Inc. has filed a letter of intent with the Health Resources Board to open a “freestanding birthing center that provides safe, culturally respectful, midwife-led maternity care for all.” The organization filed a letter of intent in mid-February, the first step to inform the board of its plans to open a new facility. However, no such application has yet been received by the board.
Birthplaces provide families with a birthing environment that is more like a home than a traditional hospital setting. Many birth centers, such as the one already in place in Wilmington or the one proposed by Black Mothers In Power Inc., also offer water births. They also typically provide prenatal care and education for families, as well as partnerships with local medical practices such as hospitals so they can provide continuity of care in the event of an emergency.
Darby hopes to open a birth center in the heart of Wilmington with certified midwives, doulas and other professionals. She has begun talks with Delaware State University and the Wilmington Housing Authority to make her vision a reality while she seeks funding.
If Black Mothers In Power Inc. was successful in its attempt to open the new facility; it could help expectant mothers at a lower cost. A current study A study published in 2019 by the American Association of Birth Centers found that similar facilities can significantly reduce the cost of birth care and first-year care, with average cost reductions of 21% and 15%, respectively.
The memorandum of understanding with the Health Resources Board states that the birth center will be located in the Elwyn Building at 321 E 11th St. in Wilmington. The Wilmington Housing Authority’s nonprofit Delaware Affordable Housing Group purchased the Elwyn building in July 2023 for $3.2 million in hopes of offering the 64,000 square feet of space to groups that can serve the surrounding community.
“I talked to the Wilmington Housing Authority and they said, ‘I think we have a great spot for you.’ It was perfect. It fell into 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 in the development phase. We have the site, we’re just waiting on engineering drawings to get something going with the site. I think we’re in a very good position to move forward.”
The Wilmington Housing Authority did not respond to requests for comment.
Black Mothers in Power’s letter of intent mentions $152,000 needed to renovate and modernize the Elwyn Building to create a small birthing center. Darby said the birthing center is planned for a portion of the building’s ground floor with four exam rooms and two delivery rooms that will include yoga balls, birthing bars and water birth supplies.
“My goal is to have a birth center in every county, probably with new construction, and to have midwifery programs at the University of Delaware and DSU and maybe even Wilmington University to give people more options. I envision all of that. And of course, I hope that we can then reduce those inequities,” Darby told DBT.
A recent report from the Delaware Office of Women’s Advancement and Advocacy (OWAA) entitled “Addressing Black Maternal Health Disparities in Delaware“ has highlighted the inequalities for black birth families in the First State and across the country.
The report states: “Black women in the United States are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women.” In Delaware, however, the number may be even higher.
A second report from the Delaware Maternal and Child Death Review Commission previously published a report stating 50% of all pregnancy-related maternal deaths Of the 140 women the commission reviewed between its inception in 2011 and 2018, 44% were black, while 6% were of other races.
Causes of death included cardiac arrest during emergency cesarean section, homicide, overdose, health problems such as diabetes or sepsis, and others. Maternal and perinatal statistics are collected by various agencies at the state and national level, but are not available in Delaware’s Health expenditure and quality measures by the Health Commission.
According to groups like OWAA and Black Mothers in Power, improved access to prenatal and maternal health care could dramatically improve these statistics.
However, various factors such as legislation, workforce development and retiring professionals have hindered access across the state. Darby hopes her birth center, which would become the second birth center in Delaware, will help open some of those doors.
Delaware has also experienced a shortage of obstetric providers as the pool of gynecologists shrinks. According to records obtained by the Delaware Business Times, the First State 243 gynecologists in 2022.
In the same year American Certification Board of Midwives (AMCB) found that there are 46 certified midwives in Delaware who are graduate nurses or certified midwives by profession. Along with a handful of certified professional midwives licensed and registered in the First State, there were 10,816 live births in 2022.
According to the Delaware Professional Regulation Online Services, there are 10 registered and licensed certified professional midwives in Delaware at press time. It also lists 67 certified midwives in the state, but the AMCB said there are only 41 in Delaware this year, suggesting that some of the state’s registered midwives may not be actively practicing in the area. There are currently no certified midwives registered in Delaware.
“Diversity in access is critical to reducing the inequities that we see as a state and as a black community. But even without inequities, we’re still going to need birth centers,” Darby said. “That’s how we’re going to get to a point where we have minimal inequities. I don’t know if that’s going to be in the next 50 years or not, because we’re trying to revitalize centuries-old systems and ways of life.”
“But we can definitely mitigate it and reduce the disparities in maternal health in Delaware, and I think Delaware can definitely lead the way on these things,” she continued. “I’m excited to be at the forefront of that with our upcoming birth center.”
