by Kelsey Herbers
To provide additional maternity care and a full spectrum of birthing experience options for patients, Vanderbilt University Medical Center today announced plans to acquire the Nashville location of Baby+Company, a freestanding birthing center that emphasizes a family-centered, low-intervention approach to delivery for uncomplicated pregnancies.
A definitive agreement has been signed for the sale of the facility, with terms of the transaction remaining confidential.
The center, whose operations will be transferred to VUMC on May 1, is the only licensed birthing center in Tennessee. The acquisition will make VUMC the only academic medical center in the country with an accredited out-of-hospital birthing center.
“Vanderbilt is a leader in innovative health care offerings. Our collaboration with Baby+Company has been very successful, and we are excited to bring the birth center care model into our current offerings for women’s health services,” said C. Wright Pinson, MBA, MD, Deputy Chief Executive Officer and Chief Health System Officer for VUMC.
Conveniently located on West End Avenue, Baby+Company lies only 1.5 miles from Vanderbilt University Adult Hospital, providing expectant mothers with peace of mind knowing highly specialized intervention is quickly accessible if the pregnancy develops complications or becomes high-risk.
Because the Nashville location of Baby+Company has been operated in collaboration with VUMC since it opened in August 2015, patients will continue to receive the same high-quality care delivered by Vanderbilt University School of Nursing (VUSN) faculty-certified nurse midwives, who currently staff the center.
The center specializes in highly personalized clinical care and a unique birthing experience with comfortable birthing suites, deep soaking tubs for water births, family rooms, a full kitchen and a living room area for families. Clinical services include prenatal, labor and delivery, postpartum and newborn care as well as annual exams, pre-conception and birth control.
“With the acquisition of the Baby+Company birthing center, VUMC Women’s Health will now be able to offer our pregnant patients more options to choose the high-quality maternity and delivery experience that best fits their needs and desires,” said Ronald Alvarez, MD, Betty and Lonnie S. Burnett Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at VUMC and chair of the department.
Clinical care is supplemented by a complete wellness and educational program open to all new and expectant families, including childbirth and newborn care education, nutritional counseling and new mother groups.
VUMC’s acquisition of the Nashville Baby+Company location comes in response to a growing number of expectant mothers seeking low-intervention birthing experiences. In 2019, the location delivered roughly 370 babies, adding to a total of more than 1,400 deliveries since it opened. The center has served more than 4,000 women in the Middle Tennessee area for obstetrics and gynecologic care.
Vanderbilt has been on the cutting edge of midwifery-led care since the 1990s, operating the first nurse midwife practice in Nashville and becoming one of the largest nurse midwifery training programs in the country.
“VUMC and VUSN have been leading the way for high quality midwifery care for the women and families of Middle Tennessee and training the next generation of certified nurse midwives,” said Pam Jones, DNP, senior associate dean for Clinical and Community Partnerships for VUSN. “The addition of the Baby+Company birth center will provide the full continuum of delivery options and will serve as a national model for excellence.”
