The American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) has stood by their mission to promote and support freestanding birth centers and alongside midwifery units in all communities to achieve a high-value model of evidence-based care that is equitable, safe, and respectful for over 40 years. I have been fortunate in my career to have worked in several birth centers that have had support from AABC, and I have also helped to contribute to their learning modules for members. This year I had the pleasure of attending their annual conference, the AABC Birth Institute, and left feeling even more inspired to continue this mission-aligned work. 

Birth Institute 2025 had many opportunities for learning and networking, and there was no way anyone could attend everything that was offered. Their conference app could be used by all participants to attend education sessions in categories such as Timely Topics or Admin and Clinical Breakouts, listen to legislative and research panels, and sit in sacred affinity spaces for queer midwives and midwives of color. I picked what resonated with me, and enjoyed connecting and reconnecting with midwives and our allies throughout the weekend. 

Whether you have been a regular attendee too, or whether you’ve never had the chance to go, I’d like to invite you on a roundup of my journey this year!

Day 1

This year’s first keynote speaker was Dr. Stephanie Mitchell, DNP, CNM, CPM, LM who taught us how to navigate obstacles “like a pelvis”. She is an incredibly dedicated midwife who showed us what true perseverance looks like in the face of extreme ups and downs while following her dream of opening Birth Sanctuary in Gainsville, Alabama. I was in awe of her journey and passion, leading her to uproot from her New England home, and create a safe space for families seeking midwifery care in the South, all while spending endless sweat and tears on what became the very first ever midwife-owned, led, and operated freestanding birth center in the state. They are welcoming their first due dates this season, so send out an extra wish for them!

In the following Timely Topic session, Diana Jolles, PhD, CNM, FACNM spoke about collective impact, and the power that AABC members can use to leverage the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation’s new maternal health model TMaH. She used the analogy of birds flying in a V formation to illustrate how we can work across state lines to identify who is leading the way in each segment of our work, allow them to take the lead and show the rest of us what it takes to achieve lasting change. We all need to be working together and utilizing AABC to find each other and keep our own history!

After lunch, I attended the Federal Legislative Session led by Jill Alliman, DNP, CNM, FACNM, Debbie Jessup, PhD, CNM, FACNM, and Ashley Jones, MSM, LM, CPM. They discussed how a government trifecta can impact opportunities for midwives and birth centers, such as the Midwives for MOMS Act to expand educational opportunities for midwives; the BABIES Act to expand access to birth centers and effective payment models for birth center care; and the I CAN Act which would allow non-physician healthcare providers to provide certain services under Medicare and Medicaid. In addition to highlighting the importance of forming personal connections with legislators and inviting them to visit your birth centers, I loved a comment from the crowd that they regularly send a postcard to their legislators every time a baby is born in your birth center/at home that says “welcome your newest constituent!”–what a great idea!

My final session of the day was another Timely Topic covering how to incorporate mindfulness and grounding techniques into birth center practice (truly applicable to everyone regardless of your practice setting). Facilitated by Kate Hogan, BA, CPM, LM and her colleague Emily Strayer, we were gently guided through the impact of grounding techniques, demonstration of practical exercises including my favorite 4-7-8 breathing, and tools to develop a plan to complement these into practice. They discussed stress, burnout, and disparities as it relates to provider wellbeing, racism in healthcare, workplace bullying, and impact on perinatal mood disorders. I walked away with a new favorite grounding technique called “5 finger breathing”: use your opposite hand to trace the outline of your fingers, inhaling as you trace upward, and exhaling as your trace down, focusing on your breath as well as the sensation of your hand. I’ve already used it myself and taught it to clients, colleagues, and loved ones since my return.

That evening, I was thrilled to join my close midwife friend and former birth center colleague Amy Goh, MPhil, MSN, CNM, WHNP-BC on a tour of the local Alma Midwifery Birth Center. What a gorgeous property! It is clear how much love and midwife energy has been poured into every detail, and being there together felt like coming home. We reminisced about the old days, wandered through the clinic and birth suites to select which birth room we would each pick if we were clients there, and sent a selfie to some of our crew from back east!

Day 2

The second keynote was given by the CEO and Co-Found of Birth Center Equity, Leseliey Welch, MPH, MBA who also happens to be one of my favorite college professors from my undergraduate days in Ann Arbor, MI. I could listen to her speak all day every day. Her reminder that despair and division are tools of oppression, while providing antidotes to inspire bold action with words like “leave the safety of what you know and lean into the constantly changing unknown” felt like the call to action I needed to hear. Our healthcare system is failing our communities, especially Black families, and right now only 15% of people have access to midwifery care.  She launched Beloved Birth 50 by 50 –the campaign for 50% of babies in the US to be born into the hands of midwives by 2050–right there in her speech! I joined the pledge, and I hope you will too.

I next attended a Timely Topic that focused on the importance of communication as a root cause in sentinel events, led by Maria Petrie, MHIT, RN and Olga Ryan, MS-NL, RN. They introduced the tools in their newly launched Communications Bundle from the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers (CABC) Complaints & Sentinel Events Committee, which is an open resource to any staff member from an accredited site. As someone who really loves QI around teamwork and communication, I quite enjoyed this interactive session where small groups of us read through a case study and simulated a sentinel event review process together. A key takeaway that I’ve been hearing more and more from community midwives is the importance of having a direct line of communication to the labor floor during a transfer, whether this is to the charge nurse, laborist, or on-call hospital midwife. 

After lunch, I went to a Clinical Breakout session that covered how to bridge the gap between EMS and midwives, led by the dynamic duo Julie Moon, MS, CNM, APRN and Melissa Lawlor, MSN, CNM, FNP-C, LC of Midwives Untethered. This session highlighted a wealth of indispensable information for community providers who are working on building relationships with EMS, and also empowers community providers to give patients the responsibility to understand expectations in case of a transfer. I could write an entire blog post just about this session (and I might!), but here are a few great takeaways that I will certainly be sharing in my faculty role at Step Up Together: 

• Have printed script for dispatch calls
• Know the level of training of your EMS teams, such as BLS vs ALS, or volunteers with limited training, and know your average response time
• “Stay and play” vs “Load and go”
• If you have a good experience with EMS, let them know! Get their badge and unit number, send their chief a letter of commendation, send their station some food, and offer to “roundtable” together to share knowledge and skills

That evening was the AABC Fundraising Gala “Prismatic in Portland”. Amy looked great in her shiny outfit! However I was exhausted with jetlag and overstimulation, so I took the evening to eat leftover Thai food in my hotel bed and rest up for the final conference day. Gotta lean into self care unapologetically.

Day 3

The final conference day opened with a research panel with Becky Ofrane, DrPh, Mary Sommers, MS, CPM, and Sayeh Moosavi, MS. They each presented on topics such as policy recommendations for birth center sustainability, and opportunities for improving perinatal mental health. Despite the evidence around positive birth experience and satisfaction with care in birth centers, the stark reality is that less than 1% of births occur in birth centers. This is largely due to financial and systemic barriers that limit birth center sustainability and accessibility. What a wake up call. There is work to be done!

Next up was my and Amy’s Clinical Breakout session focused on Preparedness for Clinic-Based Perinatal Emergencies. We highlighted the growing momentum of the Step Up Together programs (over 1,000 participants in our drills nationwide!), and provided practical strategies to help teams refine transfer protocols and enhance community-hospital integration. It was so invigorating to meet folks in the crown who have registered for this season’s Action Collaborative! 

The awards brunch was full of applause for all of the change makers and champions of midwifery and birth centers! Congrats to all of the nominees and winners!

After brunch, I supported my fellow Step Up Together colleagues Claudia Jennings, BA and Amy Romano, MBA, MSN, CNM, FACNM as they led an Administrative Breakout session that discussed municipal opportunities for birth centers and midwifery services. They discussed our Hospital Guide for Integrating the Freestanding Birth Center Model, and talked about their landscape review on public support for birth centers and midwifery workforce development. My absolute favorite main point is the way that birth centers CAN and SHOULD be seen as infrastructure; as a “hub” for various other services for a mixed-risk population. Birth centers don’t have to “just” do birth–they can do so much more, and can do this safely when properly integrated with the greater health system. 

The closing keynote of the weekend was given by Silke Akerson, MPH, CPM and I once again left feeling incredibly inspired. She talked about the strengths and drawbacks of both community birth and hospital birth, and astutely reminded us that not one care model has all the answers. Relationship building is crucial, and necessary for transformation. More midwives (and I think also physicians) need to be trained in out of hospital birth just to see what it looks like, even if they plan to always work in the hospital setting! She also talked about how we need midwives in every place, not just the clinical space, and that leaving clinical practice does not need to be the end of your midwifery career. There are so many ways to be a midwife, and we need all of us!

As you can see, Birth Institute 2025 was full of unique sessions given by leaders in our field, and full of opportunities to spend time with like-minded midwives and allies who are working to improve the landscape of birth. From the exhibit hall to the silent auction, to the behind the scenes efforts of the AABC staff and the hard work of all of the speakers, I am so grateful that I got to attend this conference for the second time. I hope to make it a habit, and I love getting to connect and reconnect with everyone across the country who is invested in birth centers and community birth! 

Special shout out to Fran Wertman, the talented creator of this needlepoint piece that I won in the silent auction and will be adding to my “midwife gallery wall” at home. 

Thank you to everyone who made this possible, and thanks for joining me on this roundup. Hope to see you there next year!