NASHVILLE, Tenn. (CLARKSVILLENOW)- Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC) 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.
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.
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.
The Nashville location of Baby+Company has been operated in collaboration with VUMC since it opened in August 2015 and patient care is given 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.
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.