Sisters in Birth Inc

Sisters in Birth launches capital campaign to build birth centers in Mississippi

JACKSON, MISSISSIPPI, Sep. 12, 2025 -- Sisters in Birth, a nonprofit/charitable women’s health organization, is responding to Mississippi’s protracted maternity health crisis by launching a $4 million capital campaign to build the first birth and wellness center in the State.

Getty Israel, CEO, has worked tirelessly to break down state regulatory barriers to building birth centers. Israel recently obtained state approval to build the first 7,500 square foot facility on 3.5 acres of land.

Led by certified nurse midwives and public health professionals, the birth/wellness center will offer integrated midwifery care and public health services to adolescents and women during the preconception, prenatal, and postnatal stages, including primary care, labor and delivery, health and childbirth education/coaching, family planning, fertility treatment, nutritional counseling, physical fitness and physical therapy. Temporary housing will be provided to laboring patients traveling from the maternity deserts - counties that have no obstetrical providers or facilities - within the State. The center will also train nurse midwifery students and public health students to work within future centers.

Research has consistently shown that the midwifery/birth center model of care leads to:

•    Lower rates of preterm birth

•   Lower rates of low-birth-weight babies

•   Fewer infant emergency department visits and hospitalizations

•   Lower rates of cesarean deliveries

•   Higher rates of spontaneous vaginal delivery

•   Higher rates of breastfeeding