Scope and Contents From the Collection: The Des Moines BirthPlace records date from 1979 to 2000 and measure 4.5 linear feet. The records are arranged in seven series: Administrative files, Legal documents, Financial records, National birth centers, Photographs, Patient evaluations, and Artifacts. The Administrative files series (1980-2000) is the most substantial of the collection and includes information related to the Des Moines BirthPlace (DMBP)’s functions as a nonprofit organization and medical facility. Numerous materials provide insight into DMBP’s founding, development, and growth as administrators and staff worked to build a business plan, define their philosophy and goals, build procedures and protocols for the clinic and its services, and evaluate their progress. This series includes issues of The Cord, DMBP’s quarterly newsletter, which at one time had 450 subscribers in fifteen different states. The newsletters included news and events; staff biographies; information about available services,...