01Your Birth Space
Birth Center
Explore the Birth Haven birth center experience and what freestanding birth center care can offer your family.
ExploreBirth Center & Midwifery · Salem, New Hampshire
A Birth Center Where You Are Known, Heard & Supported
Personalized midwifery care, birth center care, and support for families throughout Southern New Hampshire and Northern Massachusetts.
- Salem, New Hampshire
- Midwifery Care
- Birth Center Care
- Water Birth
- VBAC
- Serving Southern NH + Northern MA
Where Birth Belongs to You
Her Voice. Her Body.
Her Questions. Her Choices.
A Different Kind of Care
We believe maternity care should feel personal. The kind of care where you have time to ask questions, where you understand your options, and where the people caring for you actually know you, not just your chart.
Care that begins with listening, and grows through connection.
At Birth Haven, appointments are built around conversation and connection, not rushed exchanges. You are encouraged to take an active part in your care, to understand what is happening at each stage, and to make informed decisions alongside your midwife.
That does not mean we take a position against other kinds of care. Hospitals and medical intervention have an important place in maternity care. What we offer is a different experience for pregnancies that are well-suited to it: more time, more continuity, and a relationship that carries through pregnancy, birth, and beyond.
Discover the Birth Haven approachExplore Your Options
Start With What Matters Most to You
Families come to Birth Haven with different questions, preferences, and care goals. Begin wherever feels right.
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02Personalized Care
Midwifery Care
Personalized prenatal, labor and birth, and postpartum care built around a relationship with your midwife.
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03Birth Options
Water Birth
If you are curious about laboring or giving birth in water, learn how Birth Haven approaches water birth.
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04Informed Choices
VBAC
For families exploring vaginal birth after a previous cesarean, understand Birth Haven's care approach.
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The Birth Center
A Space Designed for Birth, Comfort & Connection
The birth center is designed to feel calm, private, and unhurried, a setting that supports the natural physiology of birth rather than interrupting it. You have room to move, to change positions, to labor in a tub if you choose, and to be surrounded by the people who matter to you.
Care happens in a quiet, home-like environment rather than a busy clinical ward. The focus is on comfort, privacy, and connection, with your midwife present and attentive throughout. It is a space built around how birth actually unfolds when it is well supported.
When you visit, you will see the rooms, the layout, and the details for yourself. A tour is the best way to experience the space and ask questions about what is available.
Midwifery Care
Care Before, During & After Birth
Midwifery care at Birth Haven follows you through pregnancy, birth, and the early weeks with your new baby, with a consistent relationship at the center.
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Care With Intention
Thoughtful Care Includes Knowing When Plans Need to Change
Birth center care is intended for appropriate pregnancies, and it depends on ongoing assessment throughout your care. Your health, your baby's health, and how your pregnancy and labor progress all factor into the decisions made along the way.
Plans may change during pregnancy or labor. Being honest about that possibility is part of responsible care. Clinical judgment, clear communication, preparedness, and appropriate transfer planning all matter, and Birth Haven is transparent about how these considerations are handled.
What we can tell you is how safety considerations are approached, and what happens when a higher level of care is needed.
Our Story
Three Women.
One Shared
Vision.
A shared belief in meaningful choices, respectful care, and a place where every voice matters.
Birth Haven was founded by three women who brought different experiences, strengths, and perspectives together around one shared belief: women deserve to feel heard, respected, informed, and supported throughout their care.
Together, Whitney Elsesser, Khadijah Cissé, and Danette Siegel created Birth Haven to build a welcoming environment centered on individualized care, meaningful relationships, education, and community.
Read Our StoryYour Founders
Meet the People Behind Birth Haven
Birth Haven was founded by three women who came together to preserve a place for birth and build something beyond it. You deserve to know the people behind your care.
Dr. Whitney Elsesser
Co-Founder and Owner, Clinical Administrator and Medical Director
Khadijah Cissé
Co-Founder and Owner, Midwifery Operations
Danette Siegel
Co-Founder and Owner, Chief Operating Officer
Water Birth
Considering Water Birth?
Water birth is one option some families explore for labor and birth. For many, being in water during labor can offer comfort, a sense of privacy, and a calmer environment.
Water birth is not the right fit for every pregnancy, and eligibility depends on your individual clinical circumstances. We encourage you to learn how Birth Haven approaches water birth, who may qualify, what families can expect, and the important considerations involved.
Explore Water BirthVBAC
Exploring Birth After Cesarean?
If you are considering a vaginal birth after a previous cesarean, you likely have questions, and you deserve thoughtful, individualized answers rather than a one-size approach.
VBAC eligibility and care decisions depend on your individual clinical circumstances, including your obstetric history and how your current pregnancy progresses. Birth Haven does not promise VBAC eligibility, and nothing here is medical advice. What we can offer is an open conversation about your options and how care is approached.
Physiologic Birth
Supporting the Physiology of Birth
Physiologic birth means supporting the body's own process of labor and birth with minimal unnecessary interference, while always remaining attentive to safety. It can include freedom to move and change positions, privacy, continuous support, time, and a range of comfort measures.
Supporting physiologic birth does not mean rejecting all intervention. Medical intervention has an important and sometimes necessary role, and using it appropriately is part of good care. The aim is individualized decision-making, supporting the natural process when it is safe to do so, and responding appropriately when plans need to change.
Beyond the Birth Room
A Place to Learn, Prepare & Connect
Birth Haven is more than a place to give birth. The vision includes education, preparation, and connection, ways for families to learn, ask questions, and find support both before and after birth.
That may include classes, groups, and community offerings that help families feel more prepared and less alone. Birth Haven also hopes to support future midwives through a planned initiative called Birthing Midwives.
Our Community
Serving Families Across Southern New Hampshire & Northern Massachusetts
Birth Haven is located in Salem, New Hampshire and welcomes families from the surrounding region. You do not need to live in Salem to receive care here.
Salem sits in Southern New Hampshire, close to the Massachusetts border, which makes the birth center reachable for families across much of the region. Some travel to Birth Haven from neighboring communities in both states because they are looking for midwifery care and a birth center setting.
Southern New Hampshire
Families from across Southern New Hampshire are welcome to learn more and book a tour.
Northern Massachusetts
Birth Haven serves families from Northern Massachusetts who are seeking birth center care.
Questions Families Often Ask
Come See Birth Haven for Yourself
A tour is the best way to experience the space, meet the care team, and ask questions about care, with no pressure to decide right away. Book a time that works for you.
What Families Are Saying