Why Black-Owned Birth Centers Are Important: The History, The Healing, and The Heartbeat of Black Midwifery
Black midwives have always been here. Before hospitals. Before policies. Before birth was medicalized and monetized. Black midwives were catching babies, healing wombs, and guiding generations into the world with wisdom passed from hand to hand. Today, that legacy is being rebirthed through Black-owned birth centers across the country.
This is not just a trend. It’s a revolution. And at Birth in Color Midwifery, we’re building one — right here in Wisconsin.
Black midwifery in the U.S. is not new — it is foundational. Black midwifery has its roots in West African traditions, brought to the U.S. through enslaved women who cared not only for their own but were often made to serve as midwives to white plantation families. Despite horrific conditions, these women preserved knowledge of herbal medicine, spiritual care, and labor support that would become foundational to community birth care in the American South.
For centuries, Black midwives were the cornerstones of maternal and newborn health, especially in the South, where access to physicians was limited. These “granny midwives,” deeply respected in their communities, provided holistic care that addressed not just the physical but the spiritual and emotional well-being of birthing people.
But by the mid-20th century, their work was aggressively undermined. White-led medical organizations lobbied for laws requiring licensure and hospital-based births, framing midwives as uneducated and unsafe. This was a political and racial move—not a medical one.
By the 1970s, most Black midwives had been forced out of practice.
📌 Did You Know?
By the 1920s, over 3,000 Black midwives were practicing in the U.S. — but by the 1970s, that number dropped drastically due to state laws that criminalized traditional birth work. Laws driven by racism, classism, and professional gatekeeping led to the near-erasure of Black traditional midwifery.
“White supremacy didn’t just try to erase Black birth workers — it tried to sever our connection to our own bodies.”
— Black Midwifery History Project
The Modern Birth Crisis for Black Families
Today, Black women are three to four times more likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women in the U.S. This is not due to biology — it’s due to racism, implicit bias, and a system that doesn’t listen to Black voices.
Black birthing people often face:
Dismissal of pain or symptoms
Lack of culturally competent care
Over-medicalization of birth
Birth trauma and coercion
Let’s talk about what’s happening today:
Less than 5% of midwives in the U.S. identify as Black (American Midwifery Certification Board, 2023).
Of 400+ birth centers in the United States, fewer than 4% are Black-owned.
More than 2.2 million women live in maternity care deserts — areas where there is no hospital offering obstetric services, no birth center, and no maternity provider (March of Dimes, 2022).
Many states — like Wisconsin — have zero Black-led birth centers.
Across the U.S., hospital-based labor and delivery units are closing at an alarming rate — especially in rural, low-income, and predominantly Black communities. Between 2011 and 2020, 89 obstetric units closed in rural hospitals, with more closing each year since. Many of those closures occurred in areas with high Black and Indigenous populations.
This creates what public health experts call “maternity care deserts.” And these deserts are growing.
In Wisconsin, where Birth in Color Midwifery is based, multiple rural counties have zero hospital-based maternity units. People must travel 60+ miles to give birth — if they have transportation. In cities, hospital closures disproportionately affect Black communities, pushing birth deeper into a system of neglect and delay.
These numbers aren’t just statistics — they reflect a national crisis. This is why representation is not just symbolic — it's life-saving. Black-owned birth centers don’t just provide prenatal care; they provide culturally safe, client-led, trauma-informed care that centers the whole person.
What Makes Black-Owned Birth Centers Different?
For many Black families, birth in the U.S. has become synonymous with fear, trauma, or dismissal. Reclaiming birth as a sacred, empowering, and joyful experience is revolutionary.
Black-owned birth centers:
Center reproductive justice, not just outcomes
Deliver culturally safe, trauma-informed care
Safe havens for reproductive autonomy
Bridges between ancestral knowledge and clinical excellence
Employ Black midwives, doulas, lactation consultants, and traditional healers
Operate with community-informed models, not top-down hierarchies
They’re not just changing outcomes. They’re changing experiences.
📌 Evidence-Based Perks:
Studies show that care in freestanding birth centers leads to lower C-section rates, fewer interventions, and higher satisfaction — especially when midwives and staff share cultural backgrounds with clients.
The Birth Place Lab and National Partnership for Women & Families have shown that racial concordance in care (provider and patient sharing similar racial/ethnic identity) improves trust and outcomes.
Why Supporting Black Midwives Matters
Supporting Black midwives is more than allyship — it’s a commitment to birth justice, health equity, and intergenerational healing.
When we uplift Black midwives, we are:
Creating safer spaces for Black birthing people
Reclaiming ancestral knowledge
Mentoring the next generation of providers
Dismantling a system that has failed our communities for centuries
Whether you donate to a birth center, hire a Black doula, repost on social media, or show up at a community event — you are helping transform the system from the inside out.
We’re Building One in Wisconsin — and We Need You
At Birth in Color Midwifery, we’re working to open the first Black-owned birth center in the state of Wisconsin. It will be a 9,000-square-foot wellness sanctuary offering:
Home birth + birth center services
Culturally safe prenatal, postpartum, and gynecologic care
Pediatric care, family wellness, and fertility services
Community education and training for future Black midwives
We are proud to be building this with the support of the American Association of Birth Centers (AABC) — but we need public support to bring it to life.
Our Vision, Your Impact
Donate Now via GiveButter
Help fund construction, supplies, staffing, and sustainability.
Your donation goes toward:
Water birth tubs, beds, bassinets, etc.
Staffing Black midwives, primary care providers, lactation support, and more
Education, community outreach, and training future Black providers
A culturally-rooted model of care that Wisconsin has never seen before
Black midwives are not a trend. Black-owned birth centers are not a luxury. They are a necessity. We are not just birthing babies — we are birthing justice, belonging, and a future where all families feel safe, seen, and held. This is our movement. Let’s make history.
