Women's Choice in Care Initiative, Inc.

We are fundraising to help sustain our beloved Gentle Landing Birth Center, in honor of founder and midwife Katherine Bramhall's 65th birthday this month. After a family tragedy struck one of the center's founding team, Katherine has carried on the job of running the birth center as the sole provider, resulting in a shortfall in revenue for this calendar year. Please help us ensure that Gentle Landing Birth Center and Katherine can continue the important work of providing care-centered midwifery for our region and training the next generation of midwife leaders.

Your dollars will go to the umbrella NH nonprofit organization Women's Choice in Care Initiative, originally organized to help support the start of a freestanding birth center in the Upper Valley after the announcement of the closing of Alice Peck Day Hospital. The ongoing public health focus of Gentle Landing Birth Center and her umbrella nonprofit organization will always be to provide equitable and high-quality birth choice and midwifery care to low-risk birthing families in our region.

Why Birth Center Care is Critical for Our Region

Infant and maternal mortality rates are higher in America than anywhere else in the developed world. What’s more -- our region is among those impacted by the shuttering of birth centers all over the country, leaving women to travel long distances for care and with limited choice in birth providers.

According to Amnesty International's Deadly Delivery Report in 2010 and 2012, the 2018 Strong Start Study and the 2022 March of Dimes Maternity Care Deserts Report, a significant answer to the disturbing maternal morbidity and mortality rate in the United States is midwifery care and free-standing birth centers. Unfortunately, the birth center model of care in the United States lacks support and often needs charitable contributions and grants for sustainability.

In the last 20 years, NH has lost 11 maternity wards in small community hospitals which served local families for generations.

Additionally, prior to 2023, there were 5 freestanding, midwife-led birth centers open in NH. By the end of 2024, Gentle Landing Birth Center will be the only one left to serve women in a broad demographic area once covered by 3 birth centers. Additionally in the broader Upper Valley that includes VT, women travel to Gentle Landing from VT to have their babies, as VT does not allow free-standing birth center in the state.

Where are contributions going?

Your support will go directly to filling the gap in revenue lost due to the unexpected loss of one full-time nurse midwife who provided additional revenue streams, including women's health care and birth control options.

By raising these funds, Gentle Landing Birth Center will be able to invest in marketing and broader outreach efforts to expand awareness of the birth center and attract new clients. Too often we hear “I didn’t even know you were here!” or “I assumed I was too high risk to birth there!” (85% of low-risk, full-term pregnant people are able to choose lower-risk care at a birth center!)

Longer term, becoming a nonprofit will ensure Gentle Landing Birth Center can seek grant funding to help fill the gap in reimbursement rates from commercial insurers and Medicaid. It will also meet the rising costs of malpractice insurance which has tripled in recent years.

What if Gentle Landing doesn't meet its fundraising goal?

Every dollar of your support will go a long way in sustaining our birth center during this year of transition. While this campaign is certainly intended to raise money, we also want to raise awareness of the need for midwifery care and help our community to connect with our mission. So, it's a win-win no matter what. We are fortunate to have a robust fundraising plan, an engaged Board of Directors and a wonderful community of partners who believe in this work. If we do not meet our fundraising goal, GLBC remains committed to keeping its doors open on into the future.

Katherine turns 65 this month and is training the next generation of midwives, doulas and birthing assistants to continue the good work that she has started. She envisions a place where women can receive exceptional care through their pregnancies, where future generations of midwives can learn together, and where families are supported through the transformative journey of childbirth.

(Katherine Bramhall was busy catching babies and caring for their mamas this month, so this fundraiser is submitted by two grateful former Gentle Landing clients, Nicole Coleman and Elise Dunn.)

About Gentle Landing Birth Center

Gentle Landing Midwifery and Birth Center is a free-standing midwife led birth center whose mission is to provide care centered approach to birthing. The center was co-founded by Katherine Bramhall, a certified professional midwife, licensed in Vermont and New Hampshire. She is a graduate of a nationally accredited midwifery school and has practiced home birth midwifery in Vermont and New Hampshire since 2008.

Katherine blends over 30 years of birth experience in a wide variety of settings and situations, a compassionate heart, deep listening and a scientific mind to offer comprehensive, creative and individualized care to each family she is blessed to work with. She is a fierce advocate for informed choice, committed partnership in care and evidence-based midwifery. Since its founding in 2021, Katherine and her team have welcomed 243 babies into the world.

Gentle Landing offers prenatal, birth and postpartum care out of its center in Lebanon, NH. It also offers labor support for clients who choose to or require hospital-based care. GLBC has developed a strong partnership with the birth center at Dartmouth Medical Center in Lebanon and has assisted countless births there alongside its OBGYN and Midwifery teams.