'It feels like a beautiful gift': Oregon Birth & Wellness Center opens doors in Lane County

Doors opened to the Oregon Birth & Wellness Center in Springfield for an open house Wednesday night, and a small crowd of families was able to explore the center's birthing rooms, big bath tubs, community room and other parts of the new nonprofit prenatal health care provider.

The birth center at 890 Beltline Road is a longtime dream of co-owner Crystal Massey, who has helped Lane County women with their homebirths since 2015 and has been the only certified nurse midwife offering homebirths in the area. She said it feels good to see her dream take shape.

"I'm finally able to offer the services I wanted," Massey said.

The center plans to host 50 births this year. Staff believe its capacity is 12 to 15 births a month. In addition to helping families through the birthing experience, the team looks forward to providing other prenatal and wellness care as well as building community through offerings like Milky Weigh Wednesday, a drop-in opportunity for parents to weigh their babies, receive mental health and lactation support and meet other parents.

There's been interest in the services, Massey said, especially the community-building opportunities as the COVID-19 pandemic has made new parents even more isolated.

"People are feeling so closed in," Massey said.

The center also celebrated its opening Thursday morning with a ribbon-cutting with the Springfield Chamber of Commerce. Another open house is planned for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday.

Freestanding birth center not new in Lane County

This is the second birth center to open after PeaceHealth closed its Nurse Midwifery Birth Center in 2019, although Massey dreamed of her own independent clinic before the closure.

Previous coverage: Our Community Birth Center cuts cord, opens doors in Springfield

The end of the PeaceHealth birth center dismayed many local midwives, mothers, former clients, donors and even some county commissioners.

The history of Lane County's freestanding birth center stretches back decades, to one of the first freestanding birth centers in the nation. But, over the past 40 years, the center has moved under the jurisdiction of different hospitals.

Despite protests, testimonies and petitions, the birth center facility at PeaceHealth closed Aug. 31, 2019. Lane County had no independent birth center for nearly two years.

Alicia Boren gave birth to her first child between the PeaceHealth closure and the opening of the new birth centers. She didn't feel comfortable with doing a homebirth so she had to give birth in a hospital.

"For my second one, I'll have it here," Boren said at Oregon Birth and Wellness Center's open house. "Here, there's just so much more access to support, and you're allowed to really advocate for yourself. Sometimes, the hospital doesn't really feel that way."

Home births increase when no center open

The desire for out-of-hospital birth options is clear, staff said.

Previous coverage: After PeaceHealth's closure, new birth centers rise up to give Lane County families options

In 2018, there were 70 births at the birth center and 59 planned home births, out of the county's 3,591 births. In 2019 (the year the center closed), there were 38 births at the center and 72 home births, of the county's 3,553 births.

In 2020, when there was no freestanding birth center, 93 of the county's 3,250 births were planned home births. Data from 2021 hasn't been released yet.

Co-owner and certified nurse midwife Kelly Rickman worked for PeaceHealth's birth center before it closed and said she's thrilled the new clinic will be able to meet the community's desire for more options.

"We're excited to offer this," Rickman said. "It feels like a beautiful gift to offer parents."

Contact reporter Tatiana Parafiniuk-Talesnick at Tatiana@registerguard.com or 541-521-7512, and follow her on Twitter @TatianaSophiaPT. Want more stories like this? Subscribe to get unlimited access and support local journalism.

This article originally appeared on Register-Guard: 'I'll have it here': Oregon Birth & Wellness Center opens in Springfield