Today a team of hard-working midwives delivered the 1,000th baby born at Brooklyn Birthing Center, the only freestanding birthing center in the New York metro area. The 7-pound, 13.5-ounce baby girl, Lillian Bramblett, was born to proud parents Kaitlyn and TJ at 1:19 PM.
Located in the Midwood neighborhood, Brooklyn Birthing Center (BBC) is staffed by the Brooklyn Midwifery Group, a small team of experienced Certified Nurse-Midwives. The midwives have full privileges at Maimonides Medical Center and are able to attend deliveries in a hospital setting; however, most low-risk clients opt to deliver in the home-like birthing suites at Brooklyn Birthing Center.
Baby Lillian was delivered by Aki Shishido, CNM, with the help of Andrea Diamond, CNM; Maggie Torrance, Birth Assistant and Clinical Manager; and Linda Gaglioti, also a Certified Nurse-Midwife and Brooklyn Birthing Center’s Director of Midwifery. Ms. Gaglioti said, “It was such an honor to take part in this important milestone. We look forward to serving many more women and families for years to come.”
According to Fran Schwartz, CEO, Brooklyn Birthing Center’s clientele has grown dramatically in recent years. “More and more families are researching their options and choosing natural deliveries at a birth center when the moms are healthy and low-risk,” she observed, “Our clients play an active role in their health care— they want to feel empowered by their birth experiences.”
For healthy, low-risk mothers, there are many advantages to delivering at BBC. Friends and family members are welcome in BBC’s roomy birthing suites. Expectant mothers are free to eat, drink, walk, and labor in a variety of positions— many choose to alleviate labor pains by soaking in BBC’s birthing pool. Clients receive highly individualized care, and newborns always remain with their mothers— preferably skin-to-skin on the mother’s chest, to facilitate breastfeeding and bonding.
In addition to caring for pregnant women and attending deliveries, the Brooklyn Midwifery Group offers well-woman visits and family planning. The group also partners with social workers, lactation consultants, and a home visit nurse in order to provide holistic prenatal and postpartum care.
Brooklyn Birthing Center is a participant in the Strong Start Initiative, a nation-wide program to prevent preterm births. BBC is also working toward becoming a Baby-Friendly Facility, a designation that ensures the highest standard of breastfeeding support. BBC hosts a variety of classes for expecting parents, and plans to begin hosting La Leche League meetings later this fall.