About the Initiative
The Black Home Birth Initiative was founded as a grassroots organization in response to the overwhelming lack of access to homebirth midwifery care for Black families in Minnesota.
The Birth of the Initiative
The Black Home Birth Initiative was founded in July 2020 in response to access disparities in the system and culture of home birth midwifery for Black families. The initiative began as a community sponsored fund to cover homebirth fees for Black families seeking a home birth with a Black midwife. Since it’s birth in 2020, the initiative has served 18 families and counting.
How We’ve Grown
Throughout our operations, we’ve always known that in order to impact health outcomes for Black families and Black babies on a larger scale, we’d need to expand. In 2022, the Black Home Birth Initiative became a 501c3 nonprofit organization in order to expand our offerings to Black families.
What We Do
The Black Home Birth Initiative continues to fund Black families for home births with Black midwives. In addition, our offerings are expanding to fund Black doula support at home births, free community education, consulting, and support for Black student midwives currently in training.
What We’re About
Core Beliefs
Black birthing people deserve to feel seen and heard by their care providers.
Black birthing people deserve to be safe in their chosen birthing location.
Community midwifery care should be financially accessible to all families.
Black midwives are a central solution to racial health disparities for Black birthers.
Mission
Our mission is to bridge the racial health disparity gap through culturally safe, community based reproductive care.
We are achieving our mission by:
positively impacting outcomes for Black birthing people through culturally matched midwifery care.
raising awareness about racial health disparities in our communities.
reclaiming the ancient traditional wisdom taken from our ancestors and returning it to our communities.
supporting the growth of Black midwifery in our communities.
The Black Home Birth Initiative was founded in 2020 by Midwife Britt Jackson, CPM, LM in response to the stark access disparities she discovered upon completion of credentialing and licensing.
“My first thought upon reflecting on my training in the homebirth setting and first couple of months in solo practice was - we (midwives) simply aren’t serving Black families at home.”
Since then, the initiative has grown to include a board of leaders who are all deeply invested in dismantling the current oppressive system of modern day home birth midwifery as well as eliminating racial health disparities for Black birthers and babies.
