Welcoming New Life With Love & Care
A peaceful, family-centered birthing experience
supported by compassionate midwives delivering holistic care.
Why Sifra
The Maternal Healthcare Crisis
- Local midwives are overwhelmed. As a result, at least one out of three mothers seeking midwifery care is turned away due to the lack of midwives.
- The need to hire more midwives is urgent, however without a birth center it is almost impossible to recruit additional midwives.
- Rural hospitals in Wisconsin continue to close labor and delivery units.
- Maternal death is rising and has doubled in the last two decades.(Shellpfeffer et al., 2015) (KFF/CDC) (March of Dimes, 2025)
The Results
Women freebirth, drive too many miles to find a place to deliver, or settle for birth options they aren't comfortable with.
Sifra's Unique Offering
- Comprehensive Midwifery Care that includes:
- Compassionate, personal care
- Regular, comprehensive prenatal visits
- Routine labs and imaging
- Personalized birth experience
- Emotional support
- Lactation support
- Ability to retain your own decision making
- Newborn exams & screening
- Homelike birth suites
- A 20 minute drive to emergency medical care
- Affordable & transparent pricing
- Opportunities for midwifery students
Rendering
Who We Are
Sifra Birth Center is proposed by Anabaptist Health Ministries, Inc. — a faith based nonprofit organization, recognized by the IRS as a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization — as a freestanding birth center and midwife education ministry to be located in Merrill, Wisconsin. Rooted in Christian values, Sifra will blend the clinical excellence of modern midwifery with compassionate, faith-integrated care.
Imagine a home-like place where families can come to deliver their babies: a home away from home. That is what we envision Sifra to be. We want a place that feels like home, but has all the amenities needed for the safe arrival of a baby.
An important part of this homelike, peaceful environment is the staff. To create this environment, we need midwives and birth attendants who truly care about the health and wellbeing of both mother and baby. We envision a place where mothers get to go to deliver their baby versus a place where they have to go for the delivery.
At Sifra, we are working to design a facility that meets families' needs for privacy and comfort along with the staff's need for a good working environment.
Our goal is to have up to four full-time midwives working out of Sifra. With four midwives, Sifra will have the potential to deliver 300 or more babies per year, with many other families served via women's health consultations.
Vision, Mission, & Values
Sifra Vision
We envision Northern Wisconsin to be a place where exceptional, sustainable midwifery care is accessible, safe and affordable for everyone.
Sifra Mission
We will create Sifra Birth Center, assemble an exceptional team of midwives and build a culture of life. Our culture will be defined by our faith based values, high standards of family centered care, and respect for our staff.
Sifra Values
These are the values that guide our actions.
Integrity
Our devotion to integrity means our actions will be guided by a commitment to virtue, truthfulness, and dependability.
Compassion
Our devotion to compassion means our actions will be guided by a sincere desire to bless, care for, and help. This applies to both staff and the families we serve.
Personalized Care
Our devotion to personalized care means we will honor the individuality of each person we serve. Every family is unique – their health history, background, preferences and beliefs.
Safety & Continuous Improvement
Our devotion to safety means we will not allow outside priorities and pressure to compromise the safety of our clients. Our commitment to continuous improvement means we are compelled to relentlessly improve our education, skills, client outcomes and relevance to our communities.
Leadership & Staff
Katie Breitenmoser, CPM, LM
Clinical Director
Andrew Headings
Executive Director
Neil Martin
Administrative Director
Talitha Groshek
Student Midwife
Construction Updates
Follow along as Sifra Birthing Center takes shape.
The home for Sifra Birth Center will be a beautiful wooded parcel on the east side of Merrill on Highway W. Further updates coming soon.
Midwife Education Program
Training the next generation of compassionate, skilled midwives.
A secondary purpose of Sifra Birth Center is to educate the next generation of midwives. Our goal is to create access to clinical opportunities for student midwives enrolled in a distance learning program at an accredited midwifery school. We hope to have four to six students at any given time at the birth center.
It will take more than a year for a student to get their clinical experience. Once they have that experience, they can become licensed and enter the fellowship midwife program, in which they take the lead in caring for a mother and her baby while an experienced midwife assists.
The goal of this program is to educate midwives who will not only provide excellent care and do careful risk assessment but will also give deeply personal care to mother and baby. This is the heart of midwifery care. These new midwives can then return to serve their own communities. Please reach out to us if you have interest in becoming or sponsoring a midwife.
Get In Touch
We'd love to hear from you and answer any questions.