CHICAGO — The Birth Center of Chicago, located in the North Center neighborhood, has announced a sudden, temporary closure through the summer due to a severe staffing shortage — leaving dozens of expecting mothers scrambling to make alternative arrangements for their prenatal and delivery care.
Services Suspended Until Fall
The center, which specializes in natural births attended by midwives, plans to suspend deliveries after June and halt prenatal services starting early July, according to Ariel Swift, director of outreach and education for Birth Partners Inc., the center’s parent company.
Swift noted that about 42 patients are due between now and August, and each will now need to find new care providers. Some may transfer to the Birth Partners facility in Burr Ridge — located over 25 miles away — or to Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center, which has agreed to take on displaced patients.
“Our staffing levels have been reduced to a point where it’s not safe to continue care inside our facility,” Swift said, while assuring that services are expected to resume in September or October.
Staffing and Licensing Hurdles
Part of the issue lies in the center’s ongoing effort to recruit and license new certified nurse midwives. One staff midwife has submitted their resignation effective at the end of June, while a new hire is still awaiting state licensure before they can begin.
The center is also trying to recruit an additional midwife, but Swift emphasized that midwife burnout and undercompensation are part of a larger national trend that makes hiring and retention especially difficult.
Financial Strains on Midwife Care
Birth centers like this one face long-standing challenges when it comes to insurance reimbursement. According to Swift, both private insurance and Medicaid reimburse midwife-led care at significantly lower rates than hospital-based physician care, despite the lower costs of uncomplicated births in such settings.
Though Illinois lawmakers did raise Medicaid reimbursement rates last year — from 75% to 80% of hospital rates for routine vaginal births — Swift said it still doesn’t bridge the financial gap for independent birth centers.
“Midwifery practices across the country are experiencing a severe midwife burnout,” Swift said, adding that reimbursement policy must continue to evolve if these centers are to survive.
Larger Context: Birthing Care in Crisis
The temporary closure comes amid a broader trend of labor and delivery unit closures across Illinois, especially in community hospitals, citing rising costs and declining birth rates.
Despite state efforts to expand options — including a 2021 law that increased the number of licensed birth centers from 10 to 17 statewide — challenges persist. Recently, a South Side birth center received a $3.3 million city grant to support renovations and expansion, signaling a broader push to increase birthing options in underserved areas.
Birth Partners, the parent organization, also operates centers in Burr Ridge and Bloomington, along with several facilities outside Illinois. Staff from the Chicago location have been offered roles at the Burr Ridge center in the interim.
Have your pregnancy or birthing plans been disrupted by this sudden closure? Share your experience or join the community discussion at ChicagoSuburbanFamily.com.
