Help support the first midwife-owned birth center in MA and bring a vital health care option to our community!
Project Description
Seven Sisters Midwifery &
Community Birth Center
is a healthcare facility located in Florence, MA providing gynecological, prenatal and childbirth care in the midwifery and wellness model. The center is freestanding and not a hospital. We are a MA Department of Public Health approved facility, owned and operated by two local Certified Nurse Midwives. The Center accepts many private insurances as well as MassHealth.
Currently, local families have two options for their care: hospital or home birth. Seven Sisters Midwifery and Community Birth Center introduces a vital third choice - out-of-hospital birth center. Seven Sisters will be the only independent, free-standing birth center within 80 miles of Florence, MA and it will be the only midwife owned and operated birth center in all of Massachusetts.
We Need Your Support!
No project of this size can be undertaken without the help of many volunteers, partners, community advocates, families and friends.
We own the land, we have DPH approval and approval from the City of Northampton's Planning Board.
Now, we need YOU! We are looking to raise at least $100,000 in order to literally break ground for the building and to secure funding from a local bank. Please join us in revolutionizing care options for families in the Pioneer Valley.
This project is a massive labor of love and it can not come to fruition without the support of our community. Many of your neighbors are already backers, supporters, partners and volunteers. Join us!
Visit our FAQ page to learn more.
* OUR MISSION *
Our mission is to promote wellness by providing exceptional client-centered gynecological, pregnancy and birth care as Western Massachusetts’ only midwife owned and operated, independent birth center.
* OUR VISION *
We are advocates for the midwifery model of care and its ability to radically improve outcomes for birthing families. Our vision is to not only serve local families, but to also be catalysts for change in maternity care more broadly. We are dedicated to participating in research, educating future midwifery care providers and for advocating for at-risk populations.
* OUR VALUES *
We hold bodily autonomy as an essential human right and endeavor to provide care that is positive, transformative and empowering. We recognize that pregnancy and birth are formative peak experiences in life and encourage our clients’ education, personal responsibility and agency in their care. We promote a safe environment where each client’s unique needs are not only met, but also celebrated.
Thank you for your support!
Updates
The Project FAQs
Why are we seeking funding and how will we spend the funding?
We are breaking ground and we need your help to literally break the ground! The funds raised from this campaign will help us build the foundation of the birth center and serve as seed money for our initial startup costs.
What is a birth center?
The birth center is a health care facility for childbirth where care is provided in the midwifery and wellness model. The birth center is freestanding and not a hospital.
Birth centers are an integrated part of the health care system and are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention and cost-effectiveness. While the practice of midwifery and the support of physiologic birth and newborn transition may occur in other settings, this is the exclusive model of care in a birth center.
The birth center respects and facilitates an individual’s right to make informed choices about personal health care and the baby’s health care based on their values and beliefs. The family, however defined, is welcome to participate in every aspect of pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. Well-person care is encouraged with the midwifery practice beyond the postpartum period.
What services will you offer?
Prenatal Care; Freestanding Birth Center with Waterbirth; Well-individual Gyn Care; Gyn Problem Visits; Contraception Counseling and Care; Pre-conception counseling; Fertility Services; Postpartum Care; Lactation Support; Education
Where will the Birth Center be located?
74 Maple Street, Florence MA
When will you be open?
We hope to be open our doors in Spring 2020. In the meantime if you are looking for GYN or homebirth care, please contact us via email or visit our website at www.sevensistersmidwifery.com to set up an appointment via our online appointment scheduler. We are currently seeing people in our temporary office in downtown Northampton.
Who is opening the birth center?
Two beloved, local, seasoned midwives. Pioneers in women’s health, Ginny Miller and Kirsten Kowalski Lane.
This project is a massive labor of love and it can not come to fruition without the support of our community.
Many of your neighbors are already Backers, Supporters, Partners and Volunteers...
Eugene Declercq, Ph.D. Assistant Dean for Doctoral Education, Professor of Maternal and Child Health, Boston University
Gretchen Loebel, Consulting Physician
Jeffrey Bott, Construction Manager
Anna Westley, Social Media Manager, Birth and Postpartum Doula
Leigh and Lisa Chodos, Digital Media and former clients
Katie Rubinstein, Project Management and Development, former client
Peter Ellis, Web Development & Design, former client
Judy Brock, CNM, Retired Cooley Dickinson
Rachel Stevens, AIA, Maple Street Architects
Marnie Cabaza, Innovation Business Services
Bernice Lord, CPA, Accounting Services
Mark Tanner, Bacon and Wilson, Legal Services
Jean Potter, President, Green River Doula Network
Liz Friedman, Founder GPS (Group Peer Support) & MA Commission on the Status of Women
Ann Geisler, South Cross Malpractice Insurance & President, American Association of Birth Centers Foundation
Meghan Ellis, former client
Rye Zemelsky and Lauren Bonn, former clients
Every donation matters - thank you!
For your gift of $25, you'll receive a Seven Sisters Canvas Bag as a substitute for our now sold out mugs.
For your gift of $50, you'll receive a Seven Sisters Canvas Bag in thanks.
Enjoy a selection of four popular Method products, all naturally-derived, biodegradable and non-toxic.
As a thank you for your gift of $100, you'll receive a sweet selection of Babyganics baby products with plant-derived ingredients that are gentle and effective.
For your gift of $150, we'll send you two children's books by Ezra Jack Keats Award Winning Illustrator, Micha Archer (Ginny's cousin!).
For your gift of $250, Kirsten will be your personal baker! You'll receive one seasonal homemade pie for four months.
For your gift of $300, you'll receive a 30-60 minute photo shoot with Lex Beach, Fine Art Photography.
This photography package includes two 8x10” professionally printed photographs, and three 5x7” professionally printed photographs.
For your gift of $500, Ginny will knit you either a blanket (30x36), a baby set (sweater and pants) or washcloths (set of 6).
For you gift of $1000, we will honor you or a person of your choosing in our garden landscape with an engraved stone, brick or planting.
For your gift of $5000, we'll name all the babies after you! Well, we can't do that, but we can name a birth suite in your honor. Thank you!
Rewards
Every donation matters - thank you!
For your gift of $25, you'll receive a Seven Sisters Canvas Bag as a substitute for our now sold out mugs.
For your gift of $50, you'll receive a Seven Sisters Canvas Bag in thanks.
Enjoy a selection of four popular Method products, all naturally-derived, biodegradable and non-toxic.
As a thank you for your gift of $100, you'll receive a sweet selection of Babyganics baby products with plant-derived ingredients that are gentle and effective.
For your gift of $150, we'll send you two children's books by Ezra Jack Keats Award Winning Illustrator, Micha Archer (Ginny's cousin!).
For your gift of $250, Kirsten will be your personal baker! You'll receive one seasonal homemade pie for four months.
For your gift of $300, you'll receive a 30-60 minute photo shoot with Lex Beach, Fine Art Photography.
This photography package includes two 8x10” professionally printed photographs, and three 5x7” professionally printed photographs.
For your gift of $500, Ginny will knit you either a blanket (30x36), a baby set (sweater and pants) or washcloths (set of 6).
For you gift of $1000, we will honor you or a person of your choosing in our garden landscape with an engraved stone, brick or planting.
For your gift of $5000, we'll name all the babies after you! Well, we can't do that, but we can name a birth suite in your honor. Thank you!