The Keystone Birth Collaborative is a statewide network — loosely but strongly connected — uniting independent midwives, birth centers, and aligned providers under one shared banner for visibility, coordination, and a stronger collective voice across Pennsylvania.
A Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation · Statewide
Across the Commonwealth, labor & delivery units are closing and the midwives and birth centers that keep birth care close to home are stretched thin — each carrying the weight of access, advocacy, and funding on its own.
The providers who keep birth care close to home — independent midwives, freestanding birth centers, and the practices that support them — are scattered across Pennsylvania and largely disconnected. Individually, each is too small to command attention from funders or to shape policy. Together, under one banner, they become a network strong enough to be heard, to support one another, and to shape what comes next. That is the case for the Keystone Birth Collaborative.
Every friend in this network is a peer. The Keystone Birth Collaborative is a named network of independent providers who share goals and choose to stand together — loosely, but strongly, connected. Each practice runs itself and speaks for itself; joining adds a shared identity, an easy way to find and support one another, and a stronger collective voice when you want one. Friends keep their independence, always.
Belonging to something bigger than your own practice: a shared identity, peers to learn and coordinate with, an opt-in listing that helps people find you, and a stronger hand when there's funding or advocacy worth pursuing together — all without giving up an ounce of independence.
An easy way to reach and support independent providers across Pennsylvania — one friendly point of contact, and a network that already shares goals, rather than dozens of disconnected practices to track down.
A trusted, growing map of independent providers who keep birth care close to home — a simple, free informational listing offered to help families find care.
Friends stay fully independent — their own licensure, operations, staff, and patients. The Collaborative adds connection and a shared voice; every decision about a practice stays with the practice. Standing together is the whole ask.
Stronger when it counts: When there's a grant to pursue, a policy to weigh in on, or a standard to set, it helps to be more than one small voice. A named network gives friends that backing — there when they want it, never required.
Pennsylvania's CMS-approved Rural Health Transformation Plan (February 2026) makes maternal health one of the core pillars of a once-in-a-generation rural health investment — and the things it invests in are the things this network exists to strengthen.
The plan names expanding birth centers as "midwifery-led spokes" an important strategy for widening access to labor & delivery care for low-risk pregnancies — with start-up support for space, training, and staffing.
The plan funds start-up equipment, training, and staffing so pregnant and postpartum patients can be monitored from home, with concerning readings escalated to specialist care — proactive oversight for communities where travel is the barrier.
Eight regional Rural Care Collaboratives will set local priorities and decide how maternal health funding is invested in each region. The Collaborative exists so independent midwives and birth centers have a voice in those rooms — with South Central Pennsylvania as the first focus.
The plan invests in midwives, doulas, and family physicians trained in obstetrics — exactly the providers who keep birth care close to home, and exactly who this network connects.
When these investments reach each region, the providers best placed to carry them out shouldn't have to be found one by one. The Keystone Birth Collaborative exists so Pennsylvania's independent birth care providers stay visible, connected, and ready to take part.
Being a friend is entirely opt-in — a shared set of goals among practices that remain fully their own. Friends keep their independence and gain the strength of a statewide network.
When there's a grant, a program, or a policy worth pursuing, a recognized network carries weight that a single practice can't — there if and when you choose to use it.
A private friends' channel (coming soon) to align on initiatives, share resources, and set common standards — so friends move together instead of solving the same problems alone.
An opt-in public listing in the collaborative directory (coming soon) — profile, services, and location — raising discoverability and credibility with families and partners.
Joint education, case rounds, and a statewide learning collaborative across friends' practices — pooling the experience that no single practice could build on its own.
A shared library for friends (coming soon): a Pennsylvania maternal-health grants calendar, application templates, and operating guidelines that lower the barrier to funding.
The directory is a free informational listing, offered by choice, on clear, even terms that apply the same way to everyone. Each practice describes itself and stands on its own name.
The Keystone Birth Collaborative is a collaborative network of independent Pennsylvania midwives, birth centers, and aligned providers — brought together under one shared banner so that, together, they have the visibility and standing that none of them has alone.
Friends stay independent, keeping their own care, operations, and patient relationships. The Collaborative simply adds the connective layer — a shared identity, communication, and coordination — that turns scattered practices into a network funders and partners can reach.
In 2026, the Collaborative was organized as a Pennsylvania nonprofit corporation, giving the network a name of its own for convening, coordination, and partnership — while care stays entirely with the independent practices that deliver it.
The Collaborative is a shared banner and a coordination layer; care is delivered by the friends themselves, each practice in its own name. Joining adds connection and shared resources — and every practice keeps its independence.
Friends of the Collaborative will appear here as practices join.
Pennsylvania's birth care is stronger as a network. Whether you catch babies, run a birth center, support maternal health, or fund it — there's a place for you under this banner.
Add your practice to a statewide network of friends. Get listed in the directory, coordinate with peers, and stand together when it helps — while staying fully independent.
Get listed →FQHCs, hospitals, OB practices, doulas, and community organizations that share our goals. Connect to the network for coordination, shared standards, and collaborative initiatives.
Join the network →One door to a statewide network of independent midwives and birth centers. Reach aligned providers across Pennsylvania through a single point of contact, around shared goals and metrics.
Start a conversation →We're building an opt-in public directory of friends' practices and a private friends' area for coordination, announcements, and shared resources — including a Pennsylvania maternal-health grants calendar and application templates. Want to be listed when it launches, or help shape it? Send us a note and we'll add you to the founding list.
Add me to the founding list →