Roots Community Birth Center

What Roots Community Birth Center does

Roots Community Birth Center is a free-standing, out-of-hospital birth center located in the Camden neighborhood of Minneapolis, Minnesota, founded in 2015 by Certified Professional Midwife Rebecca Polston. The practice provides full-scope midwifery services including prenatal care, birth at the birth center, postpartum care, well-person care for people with a uterus age 12+, childbirth education, and a weekly parenting group. Operations are delivered through approximately 8-9 staff members — five credentialed midwives (Rebecca Polston, Rachel Voigt, Willa Campbell, Mandi Pittman, Kate Hogan) and four clinical/administrative support staff — across two adjacent Minneapolis addresses (1901 and 1827 44th Avenue N) that house three private birthing suites (Blue, Pink, Wildflower), all supporting water birth and equipped with labor comfort tools including birth balls, peanut balls, birthing stools, rebozos, and nitrous oxide.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer healthcare model with multi-payer revenue mechanics: in-network insurance billing across nine named carriers (Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medica, Health Partners, Preferred One, Hennepin Health, UCare, United Health Care, Aetna, Cigna), a self-pay option accepting cash/check/credit/HSA/FSA, an income-based sliding scale for uninsured patients, a $150 fee for non-Roots childbirth education classes, and Minnesota Department of Human Services ICHRP grant funding for some programming. Operational technology is standard healthcare SaaS (athenahealth patient portal, third-party billing via Total Healthcare Billing, Eventbrite for class registration, Google Forms for parenting group sign-ups, PayPal for Seed Community Fund donations) — no proprietary technology platform.

Roots differentiates through a mission-driven, culturally-competent care model specifically addressing racial disparities in maternal health — Black birthing people face 3.5x higher pregnancy-related mortality — and is one of few stand-alone Minnesota birth centers offering VBAC support. The practice maintains a US Grantee partnership with Every Mother Counts and operates Seed Community Fund, a nonprofit arm focused on equity programming in the perinatal year. Marketing is community-centered via an educational blog ('Deeper Roots'), free/paid classes, parenting groups, and earned media coverage (US News & World Report, The Guardian, MPR News, Star Tribune). Ownership is entirely founder-held by Rebecca Polston with no institutional investors, and the practice explicitly states intent to remain small to preserve personalized care.

Name

Roots Community Birth Center

Legal name

Roots Community Birth Center

Website

https://rootsbirthcenter.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Roots Community Birth Center is a Minneapolis-based free-standing birth center offering full-scope midwifery, water birth, VBAC, and well-person care to families in the Twin Cities, with a mission-driven focus on culturally-competent care for Black birthing families.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Midwifery and Maternal Healthcare Services

NAICS

Other Individual and Family Services (624190)

SIC

Services-Specialty Outpatient Facilities, Nec (8093)

akta.pro primary industry

Midwifery & Birth Centers (HLAFAJAC)

akta.pro secondary industry

Lactation, Postpartum & Perinatal Support Services (HLAFAJAN)

Keywords

• Midwifery services
• Out-of-hospital birth
• Prenatal care
• Well-person care
• Water birth

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Insurance Billing: Practice accepts all insurance plans and is in-network with major carriers including Blue Cross/Blue Shield, Medica, Health Partners, Preferred One, Hennepin Health, UCare, United Health Care, Aetna, and Cigna. Co-pays, co-insurance, and deductibles vary by carrier and plan.
2. Self-Pay/Cash Payment: Simple cash pay option for uninsured patients or those preferring not to use insurance. Accepts cash, check, major credit cards, HSA and FSA funds.
3. Government Grants: Funding from Minnesota Department of Human Services (DHS) Integrated Care for High-Risk Pregnancies (ICHRP) grant program for some programming.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Roots Community Birth Center provides full-scope midwifery services including prenatal care, birth at a free-standing out-of-hospital birth center with three private birthing suites supporting water birth, postpartum care, and well-person care for people with a uterus age 12+. The practice also offers childbirth education classes and a weekly parenting group, all delivered by a team of certified midwives focused on culturally-competent, individualized care.

Product overview

Roots Community Birth Center is a small midwifery practice offering a unified set of maternity and healthcare services. The core offerings center on pregnancy, birth, and postpartum midwifery care at their Minneapolis birth center with three private birthing suites, complemented by well-person care services for people ages 12 and up. Additional services include childbirth education classes and a weekly parenting group, all designed to provide culturally-competent, individualized care. The organization also operates Seed Community Fund as a non-profit arm focused on equity programming.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Seed Community Fund: A branch of Roots Community Birth Center that focuses dollars on equity programming in the perinatal year, providing support for pregnancy needs, wrap around services and professional development.

Products and services

• Pregnancy & Birth Services

Quantifiable outcome

• Care at Roots Birth Center is a preventative model that reduces preventable c-sections
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Every Mother CountscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRoots Community Birth Center is a US Grantee Partner of Every Mother Counts, an organization working to improve maternal health outcomes. This partnership aligns with Roots' mission to address racial disparities in maternal healthcare and provide culturally-competent care.
• Gather Birth CooperativeminorOthersProvides website design, photography, and videography services for Roots Community Birth Center.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves8 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Others

• athenahealth: Patient portal and EHR vendor used by Roots; not a peer in clinical services but represents the technology/operational backbone enabling Roots' direct-to-consumer practice model.
• Minnesota Department of Human Services (ICHRP Program): State agency funding Roots' high-risk pregnancy programming through the Integrated Care for High-Risk Pregnancies grant; an institutional funder and policy enabler rather than a direct competitor.
• Every Mother Counts: Nonprofit maternal health advocacy and grantmaking organization of which Roots is a US Grantee Partner; provides context for Roots' equity-driven positioning and shared mission alignment.

Direct peers

• Health Foundations Birth Center: Midwifery-led birth center in St. Paul offering prenatal, birth, and postpartum care with comparable suite-based out-of-hospital birth model in the same Twin Cities geography as Roots.
• Minnesota Birth Center: Stand-alone midwifery birth center serving the Twin Cities with multiple suites and water birth, directly competing with Roots for the same out-of-hospital birth segment in the Minneapolis-St. Paul market.
• Community Midwives of Tucson Birth Center: Midwife-led freestanding birth center offering out-of-hospital birth with water birth and culturally-aligned care to underserved communities, similar in mission and service scope.
• Dar a Luz Birth & Health Center: Community-rooted midwifery birth center serving diverse populations with culturally-competent care, comparable community/mission orientation and out-of-hospital birth model.
• Willow Midwife Center: Midwife-led birth center in Minneapolis providing out-of-hospital birth, water birth, and well-person care with similar insurance and sliding-scale financial model to Roots.
• Mountain Midwifery Birth Center: Birth center offering out-of-hospital midwifery care with multiple birthing suites and water birth; similar direct-to-consumer maternity care model in a different regional market.
• The Birth Center of Bloomington-Normal: Free-standing midwifery birth center offering prenatal, birth, and postpartum care in a non-hospital setting with water birth options - directly comparable service model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/roots-community-birth-center

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Roots Community Birth Center