Midwives are facing rising malpractice costs which birth centers are finding harder to cope with:
Another reason that we are losing birth centers is because they, and CNMs more generally, face rising malpractice insurance costs that make continued operation financially infeasible. Midwifery care costs insurance companies less that hospital births, but this makes it harder for birth centers to offset the rising costs of their insurance. Also, obstetricians are increasingly discouraged from working with CNMs by medical malpractice insurance companies, making it difficult for birth centers to find physician back-up. Ignoring the evidence about safety and cost-effectiveness, medical malpractice insurance companies view CNMs as risky.
