History
In 1985, National Standards for Freestanding Birth Centers are adopted by the membership of AABC. Upon finding that accreditation through the Joint Commission on Accreditation of Hospitals and the Association for the Accreditation of Ambulatory Health Care will not be feasible, the Commission for Accreditation of Birth Centers is established by AABC as an autonomous agency. In 1990, National Study of VBACs in Birth Centers proposed by AABC members to provide an alternative for women whose only alternative to hospital confinement or a routine repeat cesarean section may be a home birth with a lay midwife. In 1998, Launch of Birth Centers Online BirthCenters.org - a joint project of the AABC Foundation and the American Association of Birth Centers. Birth Centers Online is one of the most comprehensive, multimedia enhanced sites on the web for birth center information for experienced professionals and families.
Specialties
AABC is a national organization of member Birth Centers which offer care for women before, during, and after their pregnancy, labor and birth. AABC is dedicated to Birth Centers which have a high standard and commitment to safe maternity care for women and newborns. Strong Start was a program offered through many AABC birth centers across the US from 2013 to 2016 to help give newborns a strong start on life. Strong Start provided prenatal Birth Center care, combined with client education, to expectant mothers at the highest risk for complications. For those with physical and psychosocial risk factors, and those more racially and ethnically diverse, the Strong Start program aimed at helping prevent preterm birth, low birthweight, and costly interventions. Strong Start's goal was to help a high-risk woman to have the healthiest baby possible by giving her the support, help, and knowledge to become and stay healthy during pregnancy. A diverse group of more than 8,300 women participated in AABC's Strong Start program at 46 birth centers, with more than 6,100 Strong Start births. AABC is using the very exciting data collected from the Strong Start program to learn more about factors which contribute to preterm birth as well as how to prevent preterm births, using the birth center model of care.