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It might seem contradictory to say that the birth of my son at Our Community Birth Center was simultaneously the most amazing and yet the most painful experience of my life - but anyone who has given birth will understand this. I've always known I wanted to give birth at a center. As the eldest of 10 kids, I grew up watching my mom give birth, mostly at home. Her experience delivering my youngest sibling at our local birth center in Bozeman was very peaceful and memorable. My husband and I agreed that for our first baby, a birth center

What made you choose midwifery care?  I wanted to feel heard when making decisions about my body and my child. I haven't to this day had many experiences in a hospital setting, but knew from hearing other birth stories that a hospital was not going to be a good fit for me. How did you first hear about Our Community Birth Center, and what were your first impressions? I had friends who had given birth 10+ years ago at the (now closed) PeaceHealth's Nurse Midwifery Birth Center and it sounded like an amazing place to have a baby. When doing

I will not sugar coat it: a pain medication-free water birth at Our Community Birth Center was the most brutal, metal thing that I have ever done - and worth it! I had low stress and laughter in the days leading up to my first birth. I was able to play a lead role in a horror movie short, hike in rainbow-filled, fall days, visit pumpkin patches, and attend a 7-year old's soccer game pregnantly dressed in a Marilyn Monroe Some Like It Hot dress with my life partner Nick. Halloween 2024, my favorite holiday, was in a few days,

"I just gave birth to our first child at Our Community Birth Center, and plan on coming back whenever we decide to grow our family again. I would recommend this birthing center to anyone and everyone! The prenatal care here is top notch. With each appointment, I felt heard and informed as we counseled together on the pregnancy and my plans for the birth. During labor, there were moments I wasn’t sure I could continue, and in those moments, the team would jump into action, giving me the extra bit of encouragement or another coping skill to continue laboring and

Georgia moved to Springfield in 2022 when she was pregnant with her first child. She had received birth center care in McMinnville and knew she wanted to continue her prenatal care with midwives in a birth center setting. Our Community Birth Center was just what Georgia was looking for. “It was super homey,” Georgia recalls of her first impressions of the birth center. “AlexAnn was really professional, and she answered a ton of questions for me.” Ultimately, Georgia needed to give birth in the  hospital because baby Margot was breech (head up). “Even when I transferred care to the

Dani found Our Community Birth Center in 2022 for her first pregnancy. At the time, she was new to Oregon and the birth center felt like a place to make friends and build community. Dani quickly felt connected with her midwife and the birth center team as she prepared for birth. Dani was glad the birth center felt like a second home because it was a long labor, over 24 hours total, with 10 of those hours at the birth center. “As hard as it was, it was so rewarding at the same time. We were home six hours later

Savonna came to Our Community Birth Center for her fifth pregnancy looking for personalized care where she could really be listened to by her health care provider. For her previous pregnancies, she received care at PeaceHealth’s Nurse Midwifery Center and McKenzie Midwives, but after the closure of both midwifery programs, Savonna was unsure of where to turn to for her fifth pregnancy. After searching online for local midwifery care, she came across the website for Our Community Birth Center and saw AlexAnn’s photo. “I’m going here!,” recalls Savonna. “That’s the sign I needed.” AlexAnn—who saw Savonna for care when she

Hi, I’m Lindsay DuBois, and I’m the parent of two birth center babies—one born in January 2023, just one year after the birth center opened, and the other this past February, on the night of the snowstorm. Years ago, I worked as a doula in New York City, so I’ve attended a lot of births and supported people through all kinds of experiences. But today I want to share what it was like to go through birth myself—and how the care I received from the birth center made all the difference. My first birth was long and hard. I went

Author Alice Walker once said, “how we come into this world, how we are ushered in, met, hopefully embraced upon our arrival, impacts the whole of our time on this Earth.” We find this to be true at the birth center and it inspires the care we provide every day. After a high-risk pregnancy, hospital birth, and challenging breastfeeding journey with her first child, Jessa knew she wanted a birth center experience for her second child. She was looking for a calm and relaxed environment with minimal medical interventions. When Jessa toured Our Community Birth Center, she knew she had