Park Slope is a great place to raise kids. But where did you give birth to yours? Chances are it was over the bridge and far away; or at least it felt that way when you were laboring on the Manhattan Bridge during rush hour!

As health care costs and the rate of cesarean births have escalated, recent studies show that women who receive care at midwife-led birth centers have lower medical costs and are much less likely to have a cesarean than women who give birth in a traditional hospital environment. Ultimately, it is women who decide how their birth should go, yet her voice is often not heard in the traditional hospital setting.

Birthing Centers use a wellness model rather than treating pregnancy like a sickness, or a "problem," as one RN was recently quoted as saying. Rather than be treated like a number who is taking up a bed, birthing centers are welcoming spaces that treat the woman during and after her birth, ensuring positive outcomes for her and baby.

"Because payments for cesareans are nearly 50% higher than vaginal births, study findings suggest that the use of birth centers also decrease direct and indirect costs to the burgeoning US healthcare system. "

Rep Lucille Allard (D-CA) says, "The study of midwife-led birth centers is precisely the kind of research that should be informing our maternity care spending decisions.The potential cost savings to our health system are impressive, but paramount for me is the study's findings on the quality of care and optimal outcomes."

C'mon Brooklyn, are we going to let California have all the fun? Birth is often called the most powerful experience a woman has. Shouldn't her voice be heard and respected? This is exactly what birthing centers are for; a safe and effective environment that empowers the mother, thereby producing better outcomes in both the short and long term with less interventions and cost.

In 2008 hospitalizations for pregnancy and birth cost $97 billion, making it the largest contributor to a health "condition." In spite of the insanely high cost, in 2010, 33 countries had lower maternal mortality rates, and 32 had higher rates of breastfeeding. Birthing Centers are the lower cost, higher quality sort of care that policy makers are searching out. The proof is in.

Birthing Centers have better outcomes for baby and mother.

Park Slope is known as a community that supports natural and sustainable efforts in all other areas. Isn't it time we became a leader in this area as well? The studies have been done, now let's make it a reality.

Please sign this petition and help create a Birthing Center in Park Slope.