2020 Issue 6 Nov/Dec - Focus Mid-South Magazine

for community education around
midwifery and other aspects of
Choices services. Stepping inside,
the large and bright waiting area
is welcoming and airy. The three
birthing suites upstairs are the
crown jewels of this new space,
each outfitted with a double bed,
birthing tub for two, space for a
birthing sling, and an outdoor
area.
The focus on the birthing
center brings additional work on
maternal health care. Choices is
working to advocate for better
TennCare reimbursement rates
for births and for postnatal care
and to improve the outcomes in
this area for their uninsured,
underinsured, and TennCare
populations. Choices is now able
to provide natural childbirth and
home birth options to their
patients on TennCare, which
includes about 70% of their birth
patients. According to Leopard,
after care with Choices, patients
are faring much better than
Shelby County statistics. “Our
folks are all breastfeeding, they
are carrying to term, they have
healthy babies, families are good.
We really think postpartum care
is a really important part of that.”
Currently the four midwives on
staff at Choices are working on
home or hospital births. The birth
center will be credentialed by the
state in November 2020 and then
be ready for use. Choices expects
200 deliveries there in the next
year.
All of the new developments at
Choices track with their
philosophy of bodily autonomy.
Leopard explains, “There’s so
much in the health care world,
where people are being told what
they can and cannot do and some
of it wasn’t based on medical
facts. So back in 2009 we decide
to start a fertility practice
because we had heard that the
fertility practices here in Memphis
would not work with you if you
were not married to someone of
the opposite sex. And to us that
was crazy.” Choices doesn’t treat
infertility but it can order sperm,
do inseminations, and track
cycles. In their birth center,
families of all types can now give
birth and not feel any kind of
stigma.
After opening their fertility
practice, Choices started to see
many patients who reported a
real need for a safe space for
sexual and reproductive health
that is open, welcoming, and
culturally competent to serve the
LGBTQ+ community. They began
a dialogue with the community to
learn more. Leopard explains,
“We heard good and bad things
on our journey. When we started
serving the trans population we
had a real education process to
go through with our staff and that
was good and it’s ongoing, it
doesn’t end….We have almost
200 patients who come to us
from a 300-mile radius or more
because we don’t require a letter
from a counselor, we have a
payment plan, and other things
like that that make the hormone
replacement or whatever the care
is accessible.”
Joy Evans is Choices’ LGBTQ+
coordinator who responds to
these and other LGBTQ+ patients
who have questions about
Choices services provided and
costs. She is a friendly face to
answer questions and provide
information about Choices
available health care services.
Like Choices itself, Evans and
other staff expect to revel in their
beautiful new space and turn
their focus to the quality of their
expanded services.
Above left, the lobby of the new
Choices building features tons of
natural light and bright, cheerful
colors. Above right, a meeting
space in subdued, calm tones. At
left, a state of the art birthing suite
that includes a birthing tub for
two, double bed, space for a
birthing sling, and an outdoor
space directly accessible from the
birthing suite.
GO! / NOV+DEC 2020 / focusmidsouth.com / Page 19