Fall 2020 Newsletter

Happy Wonderful Month of November to our Brookhaven Family! We are always thrilled to bring you our newsletter. As the cold weather approaches, let’s warm our bellies with some delicious Rustic Roasted Winter Vegetable Chowder, while sitting down with our newest updates. Share in celebrating with us our September & October birth announcements! 

Nov 9, 7-9PM
Birth Circle
Birth Circle is open to the public, you do not have to be delivering at Brookhaven to attend. These meetings are free and lap babies are welcome. Women only, please. Anyone who is TTC, pregnant, postpartum, or just a birth enthusiast may attend.

Nov 17, 5-6PM
Free Consultation
If you’re curious about natural birth, please contact us to sign up for this tour. If you’re a previous client, contact us for information about our referral program!

Look what’s new at Brookhaven!

Life is always exciting at Brookhaven! We are pleased to welcome all of our September & October Babies! As we march forward into the winter months, we encourage families to spread the word about the wonderful world of midwifery to any who might benefit from the safety & comfort of our facilities. Also, to all of our Brookhaven Families, we encourage you to send any
photos of your family & your experience with Brookhaven to be included in our 10 Year Anniversary Collage. Submissions can be sent to brookhavenbirthmarketing@gmail.com.

We’re hiring an office assistant!

Click here for more info.

A Beautiful Birth Story…

To Our Wonderful Brookhaven Community,

Brookhaven Natural Birth Center turned 10 years old on Labor Day 2020!  We are beyond disappointed that we were not able to celebrate this huge accomplishment with all of you due to Covid-19.  This year has been difficult for everyone in our community and we hope and pray that all of you have remained healthy during this time.  

For the past 10 years we have been in the same physical location on Brookhaven Drive.  Our birth center
is perfectly located on a quiet street within sight of Sentara RMH.  We love our neighbors, landlords, and building.  However, for some time we have considered adding to our space to better meet the needs of our clients and staff.  Our dream birth center includes garden space, a playground, and a third birthing suite amongst other things.  We have hunted high and low for a location that would meet all of our criteria and still be within a mile of the hospital.  Cost, building, and lot sizes have been a challenge.  

Earlier this year the county of Rockingham approved a plan to create a mixed use community on Boyers Road directly behind the hospital.  This plan just so happens to encroach upon our
founding midwife, Misty’s home.  Misty purchased her dream home 5 years ago and part of its appeal was its close proximity to work, exactly 1.1 miles from Brookhavens current location.  The other appealing factors were its groovy mid-century modern design and its large, private yard.  With all of the new construction on Boyers Road some of that appeal has faded.  However, Misty is always looking for creative ways to solve problems and the idea was sparked of moving Brookhaven to her home!  This way she continues to own and enjoy this home that has meant so much to her, her business receives the changes that it needs, and Misty gets a new project to work on: renovating her home to become the birth center and finding a new house to live in! 

For 8 months now we have been researching and fantasizing about this potential move. This move would fulfill all of our hopes and desires for an ideal birth center at a significant cost savings over purchasing a commercial building. We are at the point in the process in which we are scheduled to present our plan to the County Board of Supervisors to petition for a “special use permit” to allow the transition.  We know that our plan fits perfectly into the county’s vision so we foresee little pushback with our plan. 

However, we do not want to be naive to the possibility of dissenters.  In 2010 when Misty applied for a special use permit for
our current location representatives from RMH came to the meeting in an attempt to block Misty from acquiring the permit, due to fear of competition. Thankfully she prevailed and the county board voted unanimously in favor of Brookhaven.  In the subsequent years Misty and the staff at Brookhaven have worked hard to forge a strong relationship with the hospital and area maternity care providers. Based on our long history of good outcomes, willingness to collaborate, and strong community relationships, we are confident we will prevail once more.  

Here is where YOU come in.  We are asking our Brookhaven families to show up to our county zoning meeting on November 18th at 6:00pm to show your support for the center and
our pursuit of our special use permit.  Your attendance alone will show the board that we have community backing but we invite you to prepare a statement if you feel compelled.  Children and babies born under our care would make a special bonus!  

Please reach out if you have any questions about how you can help make our dream come true either by attending this meeting or contributing in other ways.   

Thank you so much for your support!  It means so much to us!

With love,

Misty, Emily, Danika, Kai, Heather, Emma, Tiffany, and Ceali
 

Rockingham County Board of Supervisors Meeting

Wednesday November 18th at 6:00pm

20 East Gay Street

Harrisonburg, VA 22802

That’s the end of this month’s newsletter, but if you’d like to see more daily posts and insights into "Brookhaven life" please
follow us on social media! Links to Facebook and Instagram are below. Don’t forget to send your photos to brookhavenbirthmarketing@gmail.com for our 10 year collage!