Lawmaker wants state investigation of Cary birthing center

Baby+Co. halted all deliveries last month after a fourth newborn was rushed to Duke University Hospital's neonatal intensive care unit after showing distress during delivery at the Cary center. Midwives from the center are now seeing expectant mothers at WakeMed Cary.

The company, which operates six birthing centers nationwide, including facilities in Charlotte and Winston-Salem, is reviewing all protocols to determine if changes are needed, officials said.

Baby+Co. also suspended deliveries and investigated after two deaths last fall and again after a third in February but then resumed them within weeks.

"Their previous investigations clearly were not sufficient to address the problem," said Dollar, who lives about a half-mile from Baby+Co. in Cary.

He called on the state Department of Health and Human Services to investigate the center, where another newborn died in 2015.

"I believe the most important thing immediately is to have an independent investigation," he said. "We need to know what has happened at this facility with these particular midwives that three children, three babies, would have died within a six-month period."

Birthing centers are booming in popularity in North Carolina – the number of births in such facilities nearly doubled statewide from 2015 to 2017 – and have had largely successful outcomes with low-risk pregnancies.

But there is no official state oversight of birthing centers in North Carolina, although the North Carolina Board of Nursing handles complaints against nurse midwives.

The nursing board began investigating a complaint against a midwife at Baby+Co. last month, a day after WRAL Investigates first reported about the cluster of newborn deaths.

WRAL Investigates found that Baby+Co. had a midwife resign within the last few months, but it's unclear if that person was the target of the complaint.

Dollar said he welcomes a conversation about regulation of birthing centers, but he wants the investigation first.

"We need to make sure in North Carolina that it's being done in a way that doesn't put mothers and their babies at risk," he said.

A spokeswoman for Baby+Co. said company officials welcome an opportunity to share information with North Carolina lawmakers and health care officials.

"We operate all of our centers to the same high safety and quality standards in every state we operate, many of which have specific birth center regulations in place. All of our centers are accredited with [the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers], and all of our nurse midwives are board certified," spokeswoman Katie Lippman said in an email.