reparations in birth

Obstetrics in the US has a brutal history of exploiting, undermining, and traumatizing BIPOC. Medical racism has a pervasive impact on birth outcomes for Black and Indigenous people with the reported statistics showing pregnancy related mortality rates of 3 times that of white folks. Black and Indigenous people also experience higher rates of preterm birth, pre eclampsia, infertility, and stillbirth.

As awareness around the lack of support for families within our current medical system grows, personalized care, birth options, and Doula support remain a privilege. Access to culturally competent care can be limited, and private midwifery or Doula support is out of reach for many birthing families.

As a collective of non-Black or Indigenous birthworkers it is our responsibility to offset this disparity and redistribute income we make. We give 5% of all our fees to Black and Indigenous individuals and organizations providing services, research, and support to families during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. Here is a list of the individuals and organizations we currently donate to:

Maliya Rubio-Mills: Indigenous doula and student midwife

Kindred Birth Companions/Sisterweb : Black Bay Area Doula collective providing pro-bono services to BIPOC families

Black Bay Area Birth Fund: Bay Area specific fund for Black home birthing families

Midwives for Black Lives : Scholarship fund for Black student midwives. Paypal midwivesforblacklives@gmail.com

Alli M. Midwifery Fund: Black, Spanish speaking, Oakland based student midwife and IBCLC

Brianna Skinner Midwifery Fund: Black Bay Area doula and student midwife

Gather Grounded Midwifery: Traditional midwifery care and birthing cottage in Virginia

One Love Black Community: Grassroots, Black- Led community effort to show up for Black folx who access reproductive healthcare services in San Francisco

If you are able, we encourage you to make a further donation to support the radical change needed to address racial disparity in healthcare and infant and maternal mortality in our country.