Why Birth Justice?
The term birth justice encompasses any policy, practice, mindset, behavior, or ceremony found in community, institutional, spiritual, family, and/or other construct that positively impacts maternal health and well-being from pre-conception through postpartum, reduces exposure to adverse experiences, and/or fosters trauma healing. The BJC employed a unique, inclusive, and asset-based process to surface strategies that reflect the future that American Indian and African American people wish to live into through re-connection with cultural strengths and wisdom, while simultaneously addressing harms of past and current structural racism.
for our community
Ashley Johnson: Maternal and Child Health Systems Manager, Hennepin County
“As a nurse I saw a young Black girl of 14 giving birth, but not screaming because she had been taught not to have any expectations that she would be helped.”
Jen Almanza: Mama, Doula, Nurse, Midwife
“I could hear the nurses talking about how I did not know what to do, yet they didn’t help me know what to do. I had to google how to breastfeed when I was at the hospital.”
Akhmiri Sekhr-Ra: Birth Worker, Cultural Wellness Center
“I learned that the history of doulas, the granny midwives, and black women’s knowledge was passed down and we had better outcomes before we could go to a hospital… It was about healing; I remember my grandmother and her healing.”
Ramona Kitto Stately: Isanti Dahkota Nation Mom, Culture Bearer
“Instead of having people alone, during labor they should have someone with them because health providers will ignore them and not listen to their concerns or wishes.”
