Our History

2007 was a sad year for birth options in the Washington, D.C. area. In April, Takoma Midwives, a hospital-based midwife practice with a devoted following in Takoma Park, Maryland, closed. And only one month later in May, the Maternity Center, a freestanding birth center with a 30-year history in Bethesda, Maryland, closed as well.

At the same time, Washington Adventist Hospital, which has been at its Takoma Park location for over 100 years, announced that it was relocating out of Takoma Park in 2013. The hospital's relocation created the question of what would go in its place on the vacated campus. We put these two crises together and created an opportunity: include a birth center on the Takoma Park campus!

We see Takoma Park, with its reputation as a place willing to try health alternatives, as the perfect location for such a center. We also see Washington Adventist Hospital, with its long history of respecting connections between mind, body, spirit and health, as a natural fit as a partner and backup hospital.

Initial discussions with Washington Adventist Hospital were very positive and they continue to move forward.

In 2008, funded by Birth Options Alliance, a consumer group in the Washington, D.C. area that advocates for the expansion of birth choices, we joined the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) and took its acclaimed "How to Start a Birth Center" workshop. We toured birth centers around the country, talked with their staff, and reviewed their materials. We became very smart very quickly about what it will take to open a center here in Takoma Park.