Grow More Birth Centers

Serve More Families

We believe that everyone deserves access to equitable, safe, and respectful birth care.

The current healthcare system leaves behind the very communities most in need.

We are changemakers funding the future of maternity care – advancing the AABC midwifery-led birth center model of care to ensure safe, respectful, and inclusive care is accessible for all people, everywhere.

The AABC Birth Center Model of Care

The birth center is a health care facility for childbirth where care is provided in the midwifery and wellness model. The birth center is freestanding and not a hospital.

Birth centers are an integrated part of the health care system and are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention and cost-effectiveness. While the practice of midwifery and the support of physiologic birth and newborn transition may occur in other settings, this is the exclusive model of care in a birth center.

The birth center respects and facilitates a birthing person's right to make informed choices about their health care and their baby’s health care based on their values and beliefs. The person's family, as they define it, is welcome to participate in the pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period.

Discover the 5 P’s that make the Birth Center Model unique:

  • People

    Midwives are trained health professionals who specialize in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care. Birth centers serve healthy people expecting low-risk births with safe, supportive care.

  • Place

    Birth centers feel more like a home than a hospital, but they still follow all safety and health rules. They have the equipment to handle regular care and can also start emergency care.

  • Program

    Birth centers offer a comprehensive care program that begins with the first prenatal visit and continues through the postpartum period, offering time, attention, and education to ensure readiness and confidence in childbirth and newborn care.

  • Practice of Midwifery

    This model of care is grounded in the philosophy that birth is a natural life event, not an illness to be treated. Under midwifery care, pregnancy is considered a normal, healthy process unless a specific risk factor arises— unlike conventional models that often treat pregnancy and birth as medical emergencies requiring constant intervention.

  • Part of the System

    Midwives work closely with other healthcare providers to coordinate additional care when specialized support is necessary. including timely referrals to appropriate care providers.

The AABC Foundation Difference

The American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) Foundation is a not-for-profit organization established by the American Association of Birth Centers in 1994 to advance public knowledge and understanding of issues related to family-centered childbirth. We raise funds to support the advancement of the AABC midwifery-led birth center model as a standard to achieve high-value, evidence-based wellness care that is equitable, safe, and respectful.

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