Women deliver babies in hospital hallways as birth centers shutter

Freestanding birth centers are closing as maternity care gaps grow

by Anna Claire Vollers and Nada Hassanein, Stateline
January 5, 2026

Dr. Heather Skanes opened Alabama’s first freestanding birth center in 2022 in her hometown of Birmingham. Skanes, an OB-GYN, wanted to improve access to maternal health care in a state that’s long had one of the nation’s highest rates of maternal and infant mortality.

Those rates are especially high among Black women and infants. Skanes’...