ALLEN, Texas — Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Allen has seen a 29 percent increase in births after launching a partnership with Diana Health to integrate certified nurse midwives into women's care, hospital officials reported.
The partnership, launched in late 2024, also produced a 17 percent decrease in cesarean section rates for low-risk deliveries compared to the hospital's three-year average from 2022 to 2024.
From 2022 to 2024, Texas Health Allen averaged 415 deliveries annually. In 2025, the hospital delivered 536 babies.
"People have a lot of interest in that more hands-on, natural birth but still wanting the safety nets and the resources of a hospital," Kari McCord, chief nursing officer at Texas Health's Allen hospital, told Community Impact. "We're able to provide that."
The program arrives as birth rates decline across Texas. In Collin County, the fertility rate dropped more than 25 percent during the 20-year period from 2005 to 2024, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. In 2024, about 51 out of 1,000 women of reproductive age in Collin County gave birth.
McCord said the hospital had seen declining births before the partnership due to population changes and competing facilities. The Diana Health integration helped reverse the trend and revitalize women's health services.
The growing demand has at times pushed the hospital's 14-bed labor and delivery unit and six-bed neonatal intensive care unit toward capacity, McCord said.
