HUNTSVILLE — Last August, Anna Harshbarger gave birth to her son Jasper at the Alabama Birth Center in Huntsville — a normal method of delivering a child in her native country of Germany, but a non-traditional way in the United States.
She feared that she was “going to forget every English word I’ve ever learned and start speaking German,” but the team of five midwives and doulas made her feel more comfortable at every prenatal appointment, and the staff took time to get to know her and her husband.
“They took the time, Dr. [Yashica] Robinson explained everything, really got to know the ins and outs of us. When it came down to our birth, that’s what we needed too, because my husband completely lost his mind,” she said. “He was very worried and concerned, and they were able to calm him down. I think that wouldn’t have been the case with random people.”
Creating relationships like those Harshbarger experienced is what Dr. Robinson, the birth center’s founder and consulting physician, and Elisabeth Nussel, the center’s manager and a doula, aim to achieve with all patients…