Special Beginnings is a free-standing birth center located in Arnold, Maryland. Staffed with experienced certified nurse midwives (CNMs), it offers women full prenatal, delivery, and postnatal care, as well as general gynecological services. Women are provided with the wide range of safe and comfortable birthing choices in the center, as well as in the affiliated hospital. The center's home-like birth suites feature comfortable furnishings and a whirlpool bath available before and during delivery. We are accredited by the Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers.

One of the first things that comes to my mind when I hear that one of my clients is using the birth center is "freedom." Parents are more involved in the birth process and can make their own decisions about how and where they want to give birth. Mothers are not limited to laboring in the bed or have tight-fitting monitors strapped to their abdomen. Birth center options such as jacuzzis, birthing chairs and privacy are rarely possible in hospital settings. The absence of these options can severely limit the mother's ability to give birth to her baby. I fully support the midwifery philosophy and the birth center option which encourages parents to take an active role. When parents are empowered to make decisions during childbirth, they are not only happier with their birth experience, but they learn the skills they need to positively parent their children.