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Natural Birthing Center Closes Due To Deaths Of 3 Newborns

A natural birthing center in North Carolina has stopped delivering babies after the deaths of three newborns in the past six months.

Baby+Company in Cary has told its customers by email that it is sending all mothers in labor to WakeMed Cary, a local hospital which is its business partner. The company didn't provide specific information on when the deaths occurred, citing privacy laws.

According to the News & Observer, the company said its Cary site has had four deaths since it opened in October 2014. That compares to only one death at its other five centers in three states. Baby+Co. also operates facilities in Winston-Salem and Charlotte.

Birthing centers are not licensed or certified in North Carolina, although the company says care at its centers is provided by board-certified nurse midwives. 

Copyright 2025 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Neal Charnoff joined 88.5 WFDD as Morning Edition host in 2014. Raised in the Catskill region of upstate New York, he graduated from Sarah Lawrence College in 1983. Armed with a liberal arts degree, Neal was fully equipped to be a waiter. So he prolonged his arrested development bouncing around New York and L.A. until discovering that people enjoyed listening to his voice on the radio. After a few years doing overnight shifts at a local rock station, Neal spent most of his career at Vermont Public Radio. He began as host of a nightly jazz program, where he was proud to interview many of his idols, including Dave Brubeck and Sonny Rollins. Neal graduated to the news department, where he was the local host for NPR's All Things Considered for 14 years. In addition to news interviews and features, he originated and produced the Weekly Conversation On The Arts, as well as VPR Backstage, which profiled theater productions around the state. He contributed several stories to NPR, including coverage of a devastating ice storm. Neal now sees the value of that liberal arts degree, and approaches life with the knowledge that all subjects and all art forms are connected to each other. Neal and his wife Judy are enjoying exploring North Carolina and points south. They would both be happy to never experience a Vermont winter again.

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