Grassroots organizers crucial to keeping Burdett Birth Center open

TROY, N.Y. (NEWS10) – The Burdett Birth Center will remain open for the next five years and many attribute that to the work of hundreds of grassroots organizers. Those galvanized into action said they plan to keep the pressure on.

Labor balls, squat bars, birthing stools and birth pools are just some of the reasons why so many moms choose to give birth at Burdett.

Ashley Saupp is one of many organizers with the Save Burdett Birth Center Coalition. She gave birth to Ben just over a year ago. She chose Burdett because it offers different options to move around and stay active that are not available at your typical hospital.

When a plan to close Rensselaer County’s only birth center was announced it spurred her into action.

“There were endless ways and avenues that we went down to spread the message, to get the attention of folks who we needed to respond to this,” said Saupp.

Hundreds of organizers worked tirelessly, she said, often traveling to rural parts of the county to spread their message. She said it all paid off with Monday’s announcement that Burdett would remain open, for now.

“What it felt like for many of us, and certainly what it felt like for me, was you know not only a job well done but something very earned because it was. It really took the community to save the community’s birth center and so I’m really proud of that work and I’m really proud of all the people who have touched it,” said Saupp.

President and CEO of St. Peter’s Health Partners Dr. Steven Hanks said keeping the birth center open will be contingent on future finances and birthrates. But for now, they know one thing for certain.

“The one thing we’ve learned from this whole endeavor is the love our community has for the services that we provide,” said Hanks.

He said they plan on meeting with the community and legislators regularly to report progress.

“So that in the future if we ever have to make hard decisions, which unbearably you’re forced to do when you’re running a complex business like that in healthcare, we’ll have the support of our community, we’ll have those relationships and we’ll be very well informed in our decision making,” said Hanks.

He said though they’re still recovering from the pandemic, there are some positive signs. Hanks said staffing and financial performance is slowly improving.

Saupp said it’s important to keep their finger on the pulse to ensure St. Peter’s upholds their deliverables and makes “real concrete efforts to preserve the birth center”.

The coalition had rolled out a health equity impact assessment after the closure plan was announced to understand what the community concerns were. 

“What this has taught us is that the things that we hold near and dear are often the things that we have to fight for and so you know there are no shortcuts to the work here,” said Saupp. “So I anticipate that there are, of course, going to be many things that we have to continue to do in order to ensure that Burdette stays open past 5 years, past 10 years and onward.”