Author: rachelanne

We are proud to report that Brooklyn Birthing Center is heavily featured in today’s The New York Times article, “Why New York Lags So Far Behind on Natural Childbirth.” This article explores the unique barriers faced by New York City families seeking a low-intervention birth experience.

According to Doctor Laura Zeidenstein, director of the graduate midwifery program at Columbia School of Nursing, “Midwifery is very hands-on and time-intensive. Midwives utilize technology judiciously. The cost is human time and that just can’t be billed for.” Medical interventions such as anesthesia, on the other hand, are well-compensated by insurance payers. Many birthing centers have folded due to economic pressures or bureaucratic red tape.

Despite these challenges, New York City parents-to-be continue to demand access to skilled midwifery care. As today’s New York Times article points out, Brooklyn Birthing Center addresses this demand as the only accredited freestanding birthing facility in metropolitan New York.

We are pleased to announce that we are now in-network with Aetna! We look forward to welcoming more Aetna members into our practice.

We understand that many prospective clients have questions about insurance coverage. We accept most major insurance plans, including Medicaid managed care plans. Although some plans will claim that we are “out of network,” we are often able to obtain gap exceptions. We also offer discounts and payment plans for self-pay clients.

We strive to minimize out-of-pocket costs and eliminate surprise bills. Toward this goal, we work with a professional billing service in order to verify benefits, estimate out-of-pocket costs, and negotiate gap exceptions. For more information, please check out the insurance section of our website or attend an orientation.

Next, around 12pm, I got in the shower and the contractions were coming so fast and strong I couldn’t talk at all! Markus announced they were about 2 minutes apart but I didn’t really hear him, I was too busy throwing up and breathing. I knew this was a sign that the baby was coming soon, but I wasn’t really thinking at this point just trying to keep breathing through each wave. We called Lily; it was definitely time to go. The birthing center was almost an hour away but I managed to get comfortable by kneeling on the floor and shoving my face and shoulders between two big pillows and pushing my back and butt against the back of the front seat. It felt good to push against something and riding with the bumps in the road helped distract me from the contractions that felt like they were on top of each other. 

We got to the birth center around 1:30pm and I made it to ring the bell at the stoop just before I had to drop down to the ground for another contraction. Lily the midwife arrived at that moment, and we went inside. It was cool and empty, and as soon as I went into the bathroom and sat on the toilet I felt a big wonderful push sensation! It felt intense but was a relief after the contractions. Lily checked me out and I was 10 cm dilated- the baby was coming! Our doula Bonnie and the assistant Kathryn arrived and Markus parked the car and came back just in time to head back to the room with us. Looking back, I am so thankful that we didn’t have to go through triage, or deal with being hooked up to an IV or a monitor at this point. Instead, everyone followed my lead as I pushed kneeling by the bed, then I was offered a birthing ball. Lily began to fill the tub as I had asked, and the sound of running water was so nice. Markus and Bonnie alternated holding my hand with each push and putting a cold wash cloth on my neck which all felt amazing. The room was quiet except for the water running, my moans with each contraction, and the encouraging words of Bonnie, Markus, Lily, and Kathryn.

The pushing itself felt strong but wonderful, to be honest, and I was almost disappointed when each wave subsided. I heard Lily say she could see the baby’s head, and we all moved to a birth stool- I couldn’t imagine making it into the tub and I was feeling good where we were. Bonnie held a mirror under me so I could watch our progress, which I didn’t think I would want but it was awesome to have. The baby’s head was coming, two steps forward with each push and one step back with each rest, and Lily reassured me I was stretching nicely. When she announced the baby’s head would come with the next push I didn’t believe her. But out it came, along with one hand pressed against his face!! Lily calmly slipped the cord over his neck and I fell back against Markus to rest. I heard Lilly say our baby would be born with the next push. I still didn’t believe her​, but sure enough his body slid right out at around 2:40pm.

In a quick fluid motion Lily lifted our baby to my chest and I said “It’s a boy!” We didn’t know the gender until that moment. Lily and Linda and Kathryn massaged my uterus and gave me a quick shot of Pitocin to help stop some extra blood flow and helped me rub our son down to get him breathing nicely. They moved me, Markus, and our baby to the bed as a unit and I sang to our baby while they helped deliver the placenta and stitched a small tear. They covered the lamp with some fabric so the light was nice and dim, and left us to cuddle and eat delivery sushi. I was so overwhelmed with gratitude, relief, and joy. Remembering Max’s birth I couldn’t and still cannot believe how lucky we are.

Our first minutes and hours with our son ​were spent ​in ​a magic bubble of calm, quiet, and safety. Words cannot express how grateful we are for the exceptional care we received and continue to be receiving from the Brooklyn Birthing Center​.

This spring, we devoted a lot of time to surveying our postpartum clients and reviewing their feedback. We were honored to receive some absolutely heartwarming testimonials— which we will be sharing on our blog over the next several weeks! BBC families: if you would like to post a testimonial or share your birth story, please contact rachelanne@brooklynbirthingcenter.com.

“I felt taken care of, especially since this is my first child. I didn’t feel alone and during the birth. When I wanted to quit and go to the hospital the midwives encouraged me to keep going. I’m happy I did.” -Natasha

“The staff was incredible. I never felt that I could not have the birth I wanted or that I was incapable. The midwives made me feel very empowered … Yuen, Nicole, and Charlotte were absolutely incredible during my labor and especially post labor. They were sympathetic to my being a first time mom and never made me fell like my pain was exaggerated but at the same time I felt strengthened by them and comforted.” -Brand New Mom

“Everyone was so kind and showed great care for me and my baby. More than I could expect. Thank you very much for a great experience! And special BIG thanks for Linda!” -Happy Mama

A huge thank you to the clients who shared their feedback. These stories sum up everything we love about the midwifery model of care! Stay tuned for more testimonials and birth stories!

A lovely BBC mama agreed to share her birth story in honor of her son’s first birthday! Happy birthday, Ellis! 

As this was my second child, I kind of already knew what I was in for, and hopefully that also included a faster delivery this time around. My first baby, Maddie, took a whopping 23 hours to arrive, including 3 hours of active, exhausting pushing.

I was excited and calm once the contractions started. Being so far along, at some point you just want the birth to happen already. I spent the early contractions in the tub, trying to relax as much as possible. Then when they started getting serious, my husband called our birthing doula Nicole— always a calming force— to check in and update her on my process.

My contractions eventually started picking up the pace late in the evening and Nicole said it was time. So my husband called my mother-in-law to come stay with our toddler Maddie, already long asleep in her room, none-the-wiser to what was about to happen and how her world was about to be flipped upside down by the cutest bundle on its way.

From Nicole’s calculations, I was pretty far into active labor and needed to get to the Birthing Center ASAP. The plan was: she would take me in the Uber she had waiting outside and my husband would wait for his mother to arrive before meeting us there. Dressed in nothing but pajama pants and a pale blue cotton robe, I made my way to the waiting Uber with Nicole steadying me to the curb, stopping and breathing with me through each contraction, now coming down faster and more intense.

There wasn’t much traffic on the way, but there were POTHOLES, EVERYWHERE. And the driver seemed to unintentionally hit ALL of them on the way. Between the contractions and the potholes I was pretty certain this baby was going to fall out of me in the car. Nicole was in the backseat with me, her eyes reassuring me that NO, we would NOT birth this baby in the back of this car, not on her watch, as her voice said calmly, “that’s right, find your breathhhhh…”

About 17 excruciatingly long minutes later, we arrived at the Birthing Center and after an initial intake exam by the midwife on duty, we settled into the birthing room. They got the tub ready for me, after knowing I liked working through the contractions in the water the last time around. Finally my husband arrived and greeted me. I was in the tub facing down another set of contractions. Someone asked me if I wanted to BIRTH in the tub as well. I couldn’t focus on anyone’s words at that point as I another contraction washed over me.

At one point one of the midwives said, “if she’s going to give birth in there, there are some things we need to do first…” At that point between the pain of the contractions and feeling of something BIG about to happen I screamed out to no one in particular, “I DON’T CARE WHERE I BIRTH!!” Looking back on it now, that was definitely one of those Hollywood, screaming birthing lady moments. At that point I’m pretty sure my water broke. I felt a HUGE pressure, then a burst. Then a bit of relief. No one noticed because I was still in the tub.

After they helped me out of the water and onto the bed, they were all concerned that my water hadn’t broke yet. I told them about the pressure and burst and then everyone realized it had happened in the tub. Then within 10 mins (which for me felt more like like an hour), I had a few more contractions and then the urge to push and then, he was here. My son, Ellis Lightman, born 4am, April 6, 2015.

On October 28th, we hosted a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony to celebrate the opening of our breast milk donation depot for Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast (MMBNE)! We were joined by local obstetricians, midwives, doulas, La Leche League leaders, lactation consultants, a NICU nurse at Maimonides Medical Center (our transfer hospital and a recipient of donor milk from Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast), and Borough President Eric Adams!

For more information about our partnership with Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, please see our  June press release. For photos from our Ribbon Cutting Ceremony, please see below!

Dr. Guirguis, Dr. Veridiano, Borough President Eric Adams, NYC MMBNE Outreach Coordinator Amber Star-Merkens, and Director of Midwifery Linda Gaglioti in one of our birthing suites.

Amber Star-Merkens of Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, speaking about the need for donor milk for preterm and medically fragile infants.

Dara Barnett, RN, IBCLC, on the role of donor milk in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Maimonides Medical Center.

Borough President Eric Adams, a generous milk donor, and members of the BBC and MMBNE team cutting our ribbon.

Brooklyn Birthing Center and Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast (MMBNE) are pleased to announce the opening of a new human milk bank depot, located at Brooklyn Birthing Center in Brooklyn, New York.

A milk bank collects milk from mothers who have more milk than their babies need, then screens, pasteurizes, and tests the milk, and dispenses it primarily to premature and sick babies whose mothers do not have enough milk. The new milk depot, a donor milk collection site, is located at Brooklyn Birthing Center (2183 Ocean Avenue, Brooklyn, NY). Mothers from Brooklyn and beyond will now be able to drop off their milk at the depot for shipment to Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast.

“We are so honored to be part of this amazing program. Donor milk saves the lives of the most fragile of humans, and we applaud all of the wonderful women who so generously donate,” commented Adina Lerer, RN, IBCLC, Director of Lactation Services at Brooklyn Birthing Center. “We are thrilled that we have the opportunity to collect milk from the women of Brooklyn and pass it along to protect our babies. Thank you, Mothers’ Milk Bank Northeast, for allowing us to be part of this process.”

Naomi Bar-Yam, Ph.D., Executive Director of MMBNE, remarked, “We encourage mothers who have milk to share to consider donating it. The presence of a milk depot in Brooklyn will increase awareness of the importance of breastfeeding and donating milk. Donor mothers find the experience of donating very special, and we hope that the depot will provide an opportunity for mothers to network with one another about this unique, lifesaving gift.”

Milk donor screening, modeled after blood donor screening, includes health history, physician approval, and blood test. These are some of the many measures taken to assure the safety of milk for the fragile premature and sick babies served by MMBNE and the hospitals who use the milk. Breast milk from mothers who pass the screening is also pasteurized and tested by an independent lab to ensure safety before being dispensed to hospitals or families.

Donor milk can be lifesaving for preterm infants. It is especially protective against a life-threatening condition called necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC), which affects one in ten of the smallest preterm infants. Donor breast milk is estimated to lower the risk of this condition by 79%. It also lowers hospital costs by reducing costs for care and shortening hospital stays.

Donor milk is rapidly becoming the standard supplement to mothers’ milk for preterm infants in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). This has led to greater demand for safe pasteurized donor human milk from nonprofit milk banks like MMBNE that are certified by the Human Milk Banking Association of North America (HMBANA). MMBNE has been screening donors, pasteurizing milk, and dispensing to over 40 hospitals in 10 states plus the District of Columbia, and to families throughout the Northeastern United States, since 2011.

In New York alone, MMBNE provides milk to 12 hospitals, including three in New York City that have started offering donor milk within the past month— Maimonides Infants and Children’s Hospital in Brooklyn and NYU Langone Medical Center and Bellevue Hospital Center in Manhattan. Since 2012, 326 New York mothers have donated milk to MMBNE, including 35 from Brooklyn alone. The new depot will make it easier than ever for Brooklyn mothers to provide the lifesaving gift of donor milk.

Mothers who wish to donate milk can review guidelines on the Milk Bank website, www.milkbankne.org/donate, then contact a Donor Intake Coordinator for screening at 212-993-1566 or donate@milkbankne.org. Approved donors can then arrange to drop off milk at the new depot by e-mailing Rachel Anne Libon at rachelanne@brooklynbirthingcenter.com.