Length of Service: 1979 to present

The Birth Center in Bryn Mawr was one of the first birth centers in the USA, and was the first licensed birth center in Pennsylvania. We have been in continuous operation since 1979. Over 4,800 babies have been nurtured into the world through the gentle skill of our nurse-midwives.

Our status as a nonprofit has allowed us to reach out and serve all the women of our community. We have an active “birthship fund” that allows us to slide our fee so that no woman who desires our care is turned away because of finances.

Our midwives have given back to the midwifery community in many ways. We are preceptors for The University of Pennsylvania’s Nurse-Midwifery Education Program, Frontier’s Nurse-Midwifery Education Program, and The Philadelphia University Institute for Midwifery and Women’s Health Program. We also provide education about birth centers and midwifery to most of the local RN and BSN programs. Our midwives have served as local chapter chair for ACNM, and on the local ACNM peer review committee and legislative committee. We are active in the National Association of Childbearing Centers. Three of our midwives are site visitors for The Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers and one of our midwives is the current chair of that commission.

We are proud of our longevity. We have survived through a medical environment not knowledgeable about birth centers or nurse-midwifery, difficulties with insurance reimbursement and the growing problems with lack of affordable malpractice coverage. Our commitment to women and their commitment to us have kept us alive and growing.

We are looking forward to receiving this award in 2004 as we break ground for our new, larger birth center. With our new space, we hope to continue to expand our services to the community and be “With Women” for another 25 years.