We're done waiting for companies and lawmakers to make change

We’re taking the maternal care crisis into our own hands

Meet Our Founding Family Funders

How We Work

WE IDENTIFY AND VET BIRTH WORKERS

Midwifery care providers in participating cities have been vetted by Birth Center Equity.

RECIPIENTS ARE REVIEWED, SELECTED, AND NOTIFIED

birthFUND in partnership with our grant partner The Victoria Project and participating midwifery care providers will review and 
vet submissions.

WE PROVIDE NEED-BASED GRANTS

Grants through birthFund provide selected mothers / families with holistic perinatal care and midwifery birth support services.

The State of Birth in The US

In the United States, most birthing families expect their experience to look like a medical TV drama. Fluorescent lights, medical staff in masks, raised voices, and a rush to get the baby out. Many expectant parents accept that their birth experience may not end the way they dreamed — with C-sections and maternal-fetal complications on the rise.

In 2024, one of the most advanced and wealthiest nations in the world is in the midst of a soaring maternal health crisis. This is the deadliest to give birth in — especially if you are Black. The healthcare and medical insurance systems that are supposed to care for mothers, birthing people, and families are failing us.

This doesn’t have
to be the norm

That’s why birthFUND advocates for and invests in midwifery care and the inclusion of birth workers in the birth experience.

Midwifery care could avert more than 80% of maternal and infant deaths and:

Significantly lower rates of postpartum hemorrhage
Increased odds of vaginal birth
Decreased use of episiotomy
Reduced preterm birth cases
Improved breastfeeding adoption
Decreased NICU time after birth
Increased birthweight in infants
Significantly lower rates of postpartum hemorrhage
Increased odds of vaginal birth
Decreased use of episiotomy
Reduced preterm birth cases
Improved breastfeeding adoption
Decreased NICU time after birth
Increased birthweight in infants
Significantly lower rates of postpartum hemorrhage
Increased odds of vaginal birth
Decreased use of episiotomy
Reduced preterm birth cases
Improved breastfeeding adoption
Decreased NICU time after birth
Increased birthweight in infants
66%

Midwifery-led care could avert about 2/3 of deaths among women and newborns.

13%

Under midwife care, there is an average 13% decrease in obstetric interventions.

12%

But ONLY 12% of births in the U.S. were attended by a midwife in 2021 due to a lack of access. (Midwifery is not covered by most insurance.)

Instead of settling for the status quo, where birth is scary (and in some cases, deeply unsafe)...

let’s make midwifery
more accessible.

HOW IS MIDWIFERY DIFFERENT?
WHAT IS MIDWIFERY?

Meet the birthFUND team

Leadership

Elaine Welteroth
Founder, Journalist, Author, & TV Host
Janelle Green
Grant Program Lead, Co-founder of The Victoria Project
Kimberly Durdin
Midwifery Network Engagement Director, Co-founder of Kindred Space LA
Rakia Reynolds
Strategic Comms Lead, Founder of Skai Blue Media, Agency of Record
Audrey Saccone
Project Manager, Founder of Audrey Digital
Marie Suter
Creative Consultant

Partners

Birth Center Equity
The Victoria Project
Postpartum Support International

Advisors

Dr. Uché Blackstock
Advancing Health Equity
Charles Johnson
4Kira4Moms
Erica Chidi
Loom

OUR TRUSTED PARTNERS

Birth Center Equity and The Victoria Project are working directly with birthFUND to pair community birthing centers with families seeking midwifery support.

Birth Center Equity

Birth Center Equity works with and for BIPOC community birth center leaders to collectively access full spectrum capital at scale, to nurture beliefs, practices, and models of abundance among community birth centers, and to build beloved communities with caregiving, regeneration, and mutuality at the heart of our health system and our economy.

Learn More

The Victoria Project

The Victoria Project is co-creating maternity care that is safe, gentle, empowering and holistic by offering true choices to mothers, birthing people and their families.They give direct grants to individuals, organizations and practitioners for comprehensive holistic maternity care services, specifically pregnancy, birth and postpartum services provided at home or at a birth center.

Learn More

STRATEGIC PARTNERS

Our strategic corporate partners are dedicated to supporting individual families who have financial need with basic afterbirth essentials, from lactation support and diapers to financial advising, community support, and education. Our goal is to create a holistic program to support growing families.