OUR HISTORY

In 1983, Monroe County faced a shortage of physicians willing to deliver babies. In response to the need for maternity care, Monroe County leaders, headed by Dr. Barbara Levin, developed an innovative solution: an out-of-hospital birth center. The Women’s Wellness and Maternity Center (originally named Monroe Maternity Center, Inc.) was the nation’s first publicly funded freestanding birth center. Women's Wellness & Maternity Center relies on Certified Nurse-Midwives to provide safe prenatal and perinatal care, low risk deliveries, and primary care for all women, regardless of their ability to pay.

The Maternity Center’s first baby was born in January 1984, and during that calendar year, 62 babies were born at the Center. Twenty two years later, Women Wellness & Maternity Center's Certified Nurse-Midwives deliver a total of about 150 babies each year at the Center and at the hospital. 

Women's Wellness & Maternity Center is licensed by the State of Tennessee Board of Licensing Health Care Facilities as a birth center. The Center is also accredited by the American Association of Birthing Centers (AABC), with reaccreditation every three years. Women's Wellness & Maternity Center is governed by a Board of Directors consisting of area medical professionals, patients, and local community leaders. This Board meets quarterly to oversee management of the facility.

Over the years, insurance companies have learned that birth centers provide a safe and cost-effective method of obstetrical care, and Women's Wellness & Maternity Center is reimbursed by all major insurance companies. In addition, all TennCare plans are accepted at Women's Wellness & Maternity Center, including John Deer Health.

Women’s Wellness and Maternity Center is committed to a future of continuing to offer safe, sensitive care to women and their families in the East Tennessee area.