Jamaa Birth Village

Organizational Mission & History

Jamaa Birth Village is a 501c3 non-profit Midwifery, Doula & Maternal Health organization located in Ferguson, Missouri and serving the greater St. Louis metro area. Jamaa Birth Village's mission is to to lower prematurity, maternal-infant morbidity and mortality in the St. Louis region for Black women and families through education and a holistic network of health professionals and peers. Jamaa Birth Village started the Black Maternal Health movement in St. Louis in 2015 to bring about systemwide change. 

Since 2015 we have supported over 1,000 families with holistic perinatal care. Through our historic work we've grown the STL Black doula community from less than 10-Black practicing doulas in 2015 to 400+. Our goal is to lower the infant & maternal mortality/morbidity and prematurity rates that are significantly higher for Black women and babies. We're able to carry out our goal by providing holistic and wraparound maternal care services in a culturally congruent community setting, provide education and resources to families and clinical providers, train birth workers and disrupt the maternal health system for long-term sustainable change. 

Jamaa Birth Village Innovative Expansion & Pioneering Growth

We are expanding our current pioneering model of care from a traditional Midwifery-Doula care practice, to a birthing and postpartum retreat center model. Black people deserve to rest, heal and to be nourished following birth, and we are providing the solution to create a safe haven to do just that. Our new birth center & postpartum retreat haven is a solution to combatmaternal morbidity and infant-maternal mortality.We plan to purchase 1 acre of land in close proximity to the historical Jamaa Birth Village Equal Access Midwifery Clinic through a design-build project in collaborationwith CannonDesign & the CannonDesign Collective.The birth & postpartum retreat center will afford low- risk birthing people who don't have a support system at home with the ability to give birth, rest and heal in a safe & sacred space, while being nourished and cared for by experts in their community who look like them. We will provide on-site holistic birthing services, extended, traditional and wrap-around retreat style postpartum care for 7-days following birth.

Highlights of the new location just 1-block from our current historic Midwifery clinic includes a 5,000+ sq ft. Birth Center with 2-Water Birth Suites, 3-Postpartum Retreat Huts, 1-Greenhouse, Garden Creek & Wellness Grounds, nestled right into the Ferguson community. 

Birth Center & Postpartum Retreat Haven Model Highlights

Our innovative model does not currently exist in the United States of America. Our birthing center and postpartum retreat haven model is backed and supported by the following:

The City of Ferguson

The Office of Saint Louis County Executive Sam Page

Missouri State Representative Raychel Proudie

Black Mamas Matter Alliance

National Association to Advance Black Birth

National Black Midwives Alliance

Birth Center Equity

American Association of Birth Centers

Commission for the Accreditation of Birth Centers

Groundswell Fund

American Maternal Child Health Programs

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