Only 24 of Alabama's 67 counties have a hospital with a labor and delivery unit. Many of those same counties lack adequate access to an obstetrician or family physician. Our ranking is 49th out of 50 for preterm birth with the March of Dimes.

https://www.marchofdimes.org/peristats/reports/alabama/report-card

Rates of infant and maternal mortality are significantly worse for black, pacific islander, and hispanic women.

Until 2017 midwifery outside of the hospital was illegal in the state of Alabama. Yes, midwives offering home birth were criminalized until 2017. Today (despite being decriminalized and licensed) Certified Professional Midwives still face challenges while working to fix policies that perpetuate their ability to provide the best possible evidence based care for the women and newborns that they serve. Certified Nurse Midwives are also few in the state of Alabama and are required to have a collaborating physician prior to applying for their license to practice. In order for families to access the midwifery model of care they often find themselves struggling to find options inside a hospital facility. We currently have 3 birth centers in the state.

Our goal is to educate the public about the severity of the care deserts in Alabama as well as the great difficulties faced by women seeking low risk obstetric care outside of a hospital facility. We hope to do this while working to bridge the gap between the medical and midwifery community and supporting our hospital facilities as they work to provide the best possible evidence based care because we know that respectful collaborative relationships will improve outcomes for the families served as well as patient satisfaction.