Birth Center of Boulder becomes Boulder Birth and Holistic Health

I remember the first time I stepped into the space that would someday be the Birth Center of Boulder. Electric cords were hanging from the ceiling. There were no beds or birthing tubs. The space was essentially an empty canvas. It was 2014 and a group of postpartum doulas had gathered with the birth center founders for an orientation to the Postpartum Tuck In program before applying to be “tuck in doulas” for families who had just arrived home after birth. We left the construction site and walked across the courtyard to a small waiting room to hear the pitch. I sat next to a colleague who was wearing her newborn. I chatted with another colleague in the room that served as the front desk. 

“What do you think is next for your practice?” she asked me. 

I replied simply. “Community. Community and collaborating to serve more families with better care is where I want to focus my energy.”

In that moment I would never have guessed that with some walls, paint, a beautiful fountain, and A LOT of love the space where we stood would become the Joy Collective and be my work home for the next 9 years. The women who surrounded me would become my close community and we would share personal and professional triumphs and challenges. Most importantly for this story, the building I had just toured would serve over 900 birthing families as a midwifery center bridging the gap between those wanting to birth outside their homes and outside the hospital. 

As you can tell, the Birth Center of Boulder and the Joy Collective have a special place in my heart. I think of the amazing midwives, acupuncturists, massage therapists, lactation consultants, and perinatal mental health professionals who have made the Birth Center of Boulder their home. I think about all the families who prepared for birth in the classroom with yoga, childbirth preparation classes, and doula meetups. I think about the milky sleep-deprived parents who came in to learn about feeding their babies, recovering their bodies, and processing their births. My heart grows full when I think of the hundreds of mom and babies who birthed all over Boulder County in hospitals, birth centers, and homes who showed up vulnerable and ready to make a friend while nurturing their body in the BYOBaby Yoga classes and infant massage classes I taught in the BCB classroom.

With all this history, when it came time for my own pregnancy, it was an easy choice for me to entrust my prenatal and postpartum care to the midwives at the Birth Center of Boulder. I am grateful to have had the choice to receive care in a place that felt so safe and supportive during the transition to parenthood and I want that choice to be in place for hundreds more families in the future. 

One constant to the birth world in Boulder County is change. The Birth Center of Boulder was founded in 2014 as an independently-owned, out-of-hospital birth center. In 2021 it was purchased by Boulder Community Health. Now, in 2023, the practice we have known as the Birth Center of Boulder once again prepares to be an independent, woman-owned, out-of-hospital birth center with the new name Boulder Birth and Holistic Health. 

To keep operating it is imperative that we as a community come together to support this place that nurtured and supported so many new families in our community. Whether you have a personal connection to a class, a birth, or a practitioner or perhaps you simply want to support the continued choices for prenatal care, postpartum care, and holistic health in Boulder County now is the time to support this practice. 

How can you make an impact?

You’re invited! Uplift Boulder Birth fundraising event and block party on August 19th. Bring the whole family!

Consider a gift to their Indigogo Campaign

More ideas for support on the indigogo page!

Please share these links to friends who want to support Boulder Birth and Holistic Health.