• Birth Options Alliance
  • Who We Are
    • Mission and History
    • Contact Us
  • Your Birth Options
    • Preparing for Birth
    • Doctors and Midwives
    • Birth Locations
    • Models of Care
    • Doulas and Other Birth Support
    • Payment Options
    • Support After Birth
  • Local Provider Lists
    • Midwives
    • Birth Doulas
    • Postpartum Doulas
    • Free and Low Cost Birth Doulas and Postpartum Doulas
    • Childbirth and other Prenatal Education
    • New Parent Support in the DC Metro Area
    • Pre- and Postnatal Yoga Classes
    • Breastfeeding Resources
    • Alternative & Complementary Care
    • Options for Laboring in Water, and Water Birth, in the DC Area
    • Mental Health Support for the Childbearing Year
    • Maternity, Baby, and Family Photography
    • Placenta Services in the DC area
    • Pregnancy and Baby Loss Support
  • Resources
    • Supplemental Reading
    • Films
    • Local and National Organizations
    • Birth Stories

Mission and History 

Our Mission

Birth Options Alliance (BOA) provides information and mutual support to expectant parents about their choices regarding childbirth in the Washington, DC area, as well as advocates for the expansion of birth options.  Our group consists of current and expectant parents, as well as midwives, doulas, childbirth educators and other birth professionals .

Our History

The group was originally formed as the Takoma Park Birthing Circle in 2003 by playwright and activist Karen Brody, who since went on to write the internationally renowned play Birth. The group met monthly to discuss current birth-related topics.

In spring 2007, two midwifery options in the Washington, DC area closed within a month of each other: Takoma Women’s Health Center in Takoma Park, MD, a hospital-based midwifery practice with a devoted following, and the Maternity Center in Bethesda, MD, a freestanding birth center with a 30-year history.  These closings followed the loss of several other Washington, DC area midwifery practices, and were a wake-up call to people concerned about birth all over the DC area.  The group changed its name to Birth Options Alliance, expanded its mission to include advocating for expanded birth options, and experienced a surge in membership.

See more news coverage: 
"Birth Centers' Closures Limit Delivery Options" The Washington Post, May 18, 2007
"Midwife Centers in Montgomery Prepare to Close"  The Washington Post, March 27, 2007
"Two Birthing Centers to Close" The Gazette, April 4, 2007
"Takoma Women's Health Center Forced to Close" Takoma Voice
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Photo: Julie Wiatt
Today, Birth Options Alliance continues its efforts to share information with expectant parents about their choices, and support them when they have made their decision.  The group accomplishes these goals through compiling and distributing directories of care providers in the DC area, and by hosting an online discussion group and Facebook page, where just about any question about birth options is asked and answered by BOA’s more than 1000 listserv members.
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