Investment Thesis Report: Birth Centers

Maternity-related care is one of the largest expenses for the U.S. healthcare system today. The growing cost of care is shouldered by individuals, employers, and insurers alike, threatening to reach unsustainable levels. Despite the volume of capital these stakeholders are sacrificing for maternity and birth services, the country is still experiencing an epidemic involving soaring rates of premature births, postnatal complications, unnecessary cesarean procedures, and maternal mortality. After recognizing these trends, most of which have manifested in hospital settings, more American women are pursuing birth centers as an alternative delivery option. FCA Venture Partners believes this is an important and rapidly innovating space in the healthcare industry and are interested in exploring opportunities related to this in the future.

Here is a brief excerpt from the report: “Entrepreneurs, with both clinical backgrounds and with corporate backgrounds, are capitalizing on the industry’s expansion in three ways. Some entrepreneurs are taking the industry opportunity into their own hands, directly opening single birth center locations or multiple franchise locations. Others are working in a tangential manner, contracting with existing birth centers to improve or enhance services. Lastly, a third set of entrepreneurs are establishing startups driven by complex, wrap-around technology that improves costs and health outcomes at all stages of the maternity process and for women’s health as a whole”.

View the full report here (PDF).

Thanks to Jenna Feltes for authoring this report.