Toronto Birth Centre offers a comfortable, less clinical setting – inside TORONTO .com

By  Justin Skinner

Expectant mothers in Toronto have another option when it comes to delivering their babies.

The Toronto Birth Centre, at 525 Dundas St. E., officially opened its doors on Friday, Jan. 31 and provides an alternative to giving birth in a hospital.

The centre was a long time coming – the notion of having a birth centre of its kind in Toronto dates back to at least the 1980s when a group of community activists and leaders pushed for just such a facility.

Those dreams were scuttled in 1995, when the Harris government cut funding just before work was set to start on a birth centre.

“Even though the funding was cut, a group of Indigenous midwives, non-indigenous allied midwives and others kept the (Toronto Birth Centre) corporation running, so when the province put out a request for expressions of interest (a few years ago) they were ready,” said Toronto Birth Centre clinical director Sara Booth.

Read more: http://www.insidetoronto.com/news-story/4363640-toronto-birth-centre-offers-a-comfortable-less-clinical-setting/