1 big thing: Ohio's first Black-led, free-standing birth center
1 big thing: Ohio's first Black-led, free-standing birth center
The nonprofit Birthing Beautiful Communities (BBC), Cleveland's only organization dedicated solely to improving birth outcomes for Black mothers and children, has launched its first-ever capital campaign with the goal of building a birthing center in Hough.
Why it matters: The funding will help pay for the construction of a $15 million facility in a historically redlined neighborhood that is nearly 90% Black and has an infant mortality rate far higher than the national average.
Upcoming Cleveland birthing center to help reduce maternal and infant mortality
Upcoming Cleveland birthing center to help reduce maternal and infant mortality
CLEVELAND — A local non-profit is working to improve Cleveland's status of being the worst city for Black women by offering a new option for expectant mothers.
It may be just a vacant lot now, but soon the land at the intersection of East 65th Street and Chester Avenue in Cleveland’s Hough neighborhood will be home to something designed for expectant Black mothers. It will be Northeast Ohio’s only freestanding community-led, Black-led birthing center, according to the non-profit Birthing Beautiful Communities, which is behind the up-and-coming birthing center, which has been in the works since 2017.
B.B.C. President and CEO Jazmin Long told News 5’s Courtney Gousman this center has been a dream for them to achieve.
Two nonprofits combatting infant mortality receive $1.2 million grant to start doula, midwife program
Two nonprofits combatting infant mortality receive $1.2 million grant to start doula, midwife program
CLEVELAND, Ohio — A national grant given to two Cleveland-area nonprofits is aimed at increasing Black women’s chances for healthy pregnancies and raising thriving infants by providing them with support from doulas and midwives.
Birthing Beautiful Communities and Village of Healing — an organization and a women’s health clinic working to reduce infant mortality and support maternal health in the Black community — will form a collaborative to share a $1.2 million, two-year grant.
E6: Medical Misogynoir Pt. 1
E6: Medical Misogynoir Pt. 1
When their lives are placed into the hands of white doctors and nurses, Black women’s basic needs can quickly evolve into life-threatening ordeals. Medical professionals’ lack of empathy demands that Black women prioritize advocating for themselves and their families over self-care. How can Black women be healthy when doctors refuse to really hear them?
Living For We
In 2020, cityLAB of Pittsburgh released a study that ranked Cleveland dead last in terms of livability for Black women. On Living For We, we talk to Cleveland's Black women about their experiences at work, at school, in the doctor's office, and in community with each other in an attempt to answer the question... is Cleveland really as bad as they say it is for Black women?
Birth center aimed at Black infant, maternal mortality among Cuyahoga County social services requests in Ohio capital budget
Birth center aimed at Black infant, maternal mortality among Cuyahoga County social services requests in Ohio capital budget
Birthing center
The total project cost of the birthing center will be around $8 million. Birthing Beautiful Communities is asking for $2 million in state funding, said Jazmin Long, the organization’s executive director.
“There are numerous studies that show that birth center births with culturally relevant and competent care is a major way to reduce infant death,” she said.
Birthing centers are staffed by midwives, not obstetricians and gynecologists. Birthing Beautiful Communities wants to offer a more natural setting than a hospital, such as having bathtubs, birth balls and birth coaching services. Birth centers generally don’t administer medication to patients, except for laughing gas, Long said.
Currently, Birthing Beautiful Communities offers labor and delivery doulas for hospital births and will continue to offer that service once the birthing center is constructed for patients who prefer a hospital setting.
The nonprofit is in the process of buying property on Chester Avenue in Cleveland. Construction of the birthing center is expected to begin soon after, Long said, with the goal of finishing by the fall of 2023.
“We hope in the first year to deliver 100 babies and grow to serve more clients,” she said. “We’ll be providing wellness care, so basically Pap smears and things like that.”