Birth Justice Initiative

Every mother should receive respectful, high-quality care; every baby deserves a healthy start. Giving birth should be a time of joy, not fear. Yet Black and Brown women are at a greater risk of complications and even death due to preventable issues rooted in racism.

Hospitals, where most births happen, have an opportunity and a huge responsibility to ensure all birthing people feel respected and heard. At the same time, investing in midwives, doulas and community-based care is essential to improving maternal and infant health. Birth justice ensures all birthing people get quality, respectful care and have a say in their own birthing journey. Birth justice isn’t just an idea – it’s a necessary shift to ensure all moms and babies are healthy and thriving.

We are working to:

Ensure every mother gets the care, support and respect they deserve before, during and after pregnancy.
Change the systems that put women of color and their babies at risk.
Partner with communities and organizations to change harmful systems and uplift the voices of those most affected.

Too many mothers and babies are being lost. The time to act is now.

Co-Creating Solutions and Taking Action

Alongside our continued support for birth justice champions like the Doula Alliance of Maryland and The Bloom Collective, we’re expanding our efforts:

We’ve joined forces with State of Birth Equity, a national collaborative, and are working with the Maryland Birth Funders Equity Coalition to advance maternal health equity statewide. The group consists of seven philanthropic funders in Maryland: Abell Foundation, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield of Maryland, Horizon Foundation, Richman Foundation, Sherman Family Foundation, Straus Foundation and Zanvyl and Isabelle Krieger Fun.
We’ve also launched a Maternal Health Workgroup, inspired by conversations with grandmothers, doulas, researchers and public health workers – all working to improve birth experiences for all. This group is made up of individuals and organizations that are in service to maternal health in their community, Howard County and Maryland.
- Maternal Health Workgroup participants: Sadija Smiley, Stillborn and Infant Loss Support (SAILS); Linda Dorsey, Birth Justice Advocate; Rauda Tellawi, OB/GYN; Anne Waller, Perinatal Mental Health Provider; Leia Medlock, OB/GYN; Erin Bradley, Planned Parenthood of Maryland; Tina Horn, Luminus; LaShay Harvey, Mirror Group LLC; Nayanie Henriquez, Howard County Health Department; Samantha Cribbs, Howard County Health Department; Sergia Moreno, CASA; Magdalena Castro Lewis, ALMA Translations; Tanay Lynn Harris, The Bloom Collective; Aza Nedhari, Mamatoto Village; Lidymar Gonzalez, Howard County Health Department; Yvonne Bronner, Morgan State University

Act Now

Join us! Subscribe to our newsletter for the latest around maternal and infant health and our Birth Justice initiative.
Share your story! If you want to share your story about your birthing experience, we’d love to hear from you. Contact Cat Harmon or Kerry Darragh.
Get involved! If you’re interested in getting involved with policy and advocacy around maternal and infant health, contact Jennifer Holland or Glenn Schneider. See our Maternal & Child Health policy successes.
Interested in a grant? Stay tuned and subscribe to our newsletter for future funding announcements. You can also visit our grants page for more information.
For all other inquiries, please use this form.