“Better health care for pregnant women is possible. Better health care is possible for all of us, too.”
Theresa Brown, The Cost of Care
Theresa Brown, New York Times bestselling author, recently released her newest book, The Cost of Care: How Four Nurses Put Patients First in a Profit-Driven System, which features The Midwife Center in the first section of the book. Theresa Brown, PhD, BSN, RN, is a nurse and writer who lives in Pittsburgh.
After years of working as an oncology nurse and experiencing burnout, she embarked on her project to find hope in healthcare by embedding herself with nurses from four distinct areas of care that cover the human lifespan - The Midwife Center in Pittsburgh, a primary care facility in Portland, an elder care home in Denver, and hospice services in the midwest and in Connecticut. In a conversation with WESA, Brown shared that her experiences in these different healthcare services taught her, “that slow, hands-on care makes a huge difference.”
The Cost of Care earned a starred review from Publishers Weekly, a distinction only awarded to books of outstanding quality. Publishers Weekly shares that, “Throughout, she seamlessly blends memoir, on the ground reporting, and health policy, making complex systemic problems accessible without sacrificing nuance. It’s a deeply humane portrait of what American medicine can become when compassion—not profit—guides care.”
The Midwife Center is deeply honored to be part of this project. We are grateful to Theresa Brown for the considerable time and expertise she poured into her research at The Midwife Center and for sharing why our model of care matters, especially amidst the alarming and largely preventable maternal and infant health crisis in the U.S.
Book Talk with Theresa Brown on 11/20
We are thrilled to host Theresa Brown on Friday, November 20, 2026 for a book talk on The Cost of Care. The event will feature a reading followed by a Q&A with Theresa Brown and two of The Midwife Center’s providers who she worked closely with when writing the book - Nia Graziano, MSN, CNM and Cheryl Bradshaw, BSN, RN, IBCLC. The Q&A will be facilitated by Demia Tyler, MPH, CLC, CD (DONA), LCCE, the Chief Operating Officer of Healthy Start Pittsburgh, Inc. and a member of TMC's Advisory Committee.
Register for this free community event here.
Theresa Brown's Experience with The Midwife Center
Brown shared some insight into her experience shadowing our team at The Midwife Center:
“When I realized that my search for hope in healthcare could become a book, I began a process that took me all across the country looking for that hope, but I started close to home with The Midwife Center, an independent birth facility in Pittsburgh staffed by certified nurse midwives. Rates of maternal and infant mortality in the US, and especially for non-white women, are embarrassingly high compared with those in other countries with modern medical care. I knew anecdotally that The Midwife Center had a great reputation as a place where pregnant and laboring women felt respected and well cared for. I reached out to them, explained who I was, and described the book I wanted to write. They welcomed me with open arms and open doors, allowing me not only to shadow a midwife at births but also to attend clinical meetings and talk with staff to briefly become a part of the place.
The care I witnessed astonished me. Patients were viewed as autonomous beings with agency. That translated into women laboring while walking around and delivering their babies on hands and knees instead of being stuck in a bed, strapped to a continuous fetal monitor while getting constant IV fluids. The women felt empowered by their deliveries, and they and their babies were healthy and fine without the hospital apparatus that medicalizes birth. Sometimes such apparatus is needed—the midwives would be the first to say that—but often, it isn’t, and independent birth centers have great pregnancy outcomes.”
Join us on November 20th to connect with Theresa Brown, hear more about The Cost of Care, and network with other healthcare professionals and advocates.
