The Birth Center at PCC recently welcomed its 100th delivery with the birth of baby Sawyer earlier this month.
Of those 100 deliveries since the birth center opened in spring 2015, three of the deliveries were by Austin moms.
Brittani Chodl and her wife, Mary, welcomed Sawyer Sunday, June 12 with the support of Sawyer’s older sister, Mia, and great-grandmother.
“The facility is beautiful, and from the moment I walked into my birth, the midwives put my mind at ease,” Chodl said. “The midwives are wonderful. I would recommend them to anyone.”
Tera Martin, a certified nurse-midwife, said, “It was an honor to be present with Brittani and her family during their birth. I love being able to support parents outside of the hospital setting in the comfort of the birth center.”
The Birth Center at PCC, located within PCC South Family Health Center at 6201 Roosevelt Road in Berwyn, is the only freestanding birth center in Illinois. It is a home-like facility separate from the hospital where low-risk women can give birth with minimal medical intervention.
Of the 100 babies associated with the birth center, 20 patients have been from the Austin/Garfield/North Lawndale area; not all delivered at the birth center, but all received care from its midwives.
Throughout pregnancy, care is provided by certified nurse-midwives who specialize in low-risk pregnancy and out-of-hospital birth. Midwifery-led care within birth centers is associated with increased natural delivery and breastfeeding and is known to lower the risk of Cesarean birth as well as various complications for mother and baby.
On Friday, June 24 the birth center will host a “women’s night out,” a free community event that will foster community, model self-care techniques and introduce health concepts, such as nutrition or physical activity, for women and mothers.
The event, which is scheduled from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m., is baby-friendly and does not require an RSVP.