Delivering Birth Justice

The U.S. spends more on healthcare than any other country — yet has some of the worst maternal outcomes in the developed world, especially for Black pregnant people.

It’s a deeply American failure — and Black and Brown communities are paying the highest price.

One solution has been here all along: midwifery.

Midwifery-led care delivers outcomes that are as good — if not better — than traditional medical models. But in the U.S., it’s been overlooked, undervalued, and underused.

@Comotion’s new report takes the pulse of the maternal health system across all 50 states — diagnosing the crisis, highlighting what’s working, and laying out a bold, actionable plan for change.

We’ve been sleeping on midwifery, and it’s costing lives.

It’s time to trust the process — and center the care that’s always had our backs.

When we spend more money but have worse outcomes, that's called getting screwed over. When it comes to Black maternal health in the U.S., it's called a preventable atrocity.

We are standing with the #BirthJustice community to call out a common misconception that midwives are less trained or unsafe. Midwives are trained medical professionals who provide comprehensive medical care, and  midwifery-led care has been shown to produce comparable or better outcomes than traditional medical models, particularly for low-risk pregnancies.

Yet, the U.S. continues to invest heavily in a biomedical model of care that has not adequately met the needs of the birthing community, especially Black women. #BlackMaternalHealth

#BirthJustice is about power.

The power to choose. The power to heal. The power to bring life into this world on our own terms.

It recognizes that people of color, immigrant families, and queer and trans communities have survived generations of control over our bodies — and we're still being told when, how, and if we get to parent.

But when we birth with justice — when we’re seen, supported, and centered — we raise more than babies.

We raise a new world.

Birth Justice means real, respectful care across the whole journey — from abortion to miscarriage, from prenatal to postpartum. It means choosing your birth team, choosing your setting, and having access to midwives, doulas, traditional healers, and anyone else who sees you fully. It means culturally rooted care, not just clinical.

Because how we birth, matters.

Because we all deserve to feel safe, held, and powerful — no matter who we are, where we’re from, or how we build our families.

#PassitOn

The U.S. has the worst maternal mortality outcomes among high-income countries, and midwifery-led care has been shown to produce comparable or better outcomes than traditional medical models, particularly for low-risk pregnancies. But why don't we know about midwifery?

A new report by @Comotion, a social change agency with decades of expertise working with maternal health organizations across the globe, analyzes the American maternal healthcare system, state by state, gives a diagnosis of the maternal health crisis, a proposal for solutions, and a call to action to support midwife-led care and instigate profound change in Black maternal health outcomes. The solutions put forward come from the community of actors on the frontline of the #BirthJustice movement.

📢 Read the report. Share it. Demand change. 🔗 wearecomotion.com/insight/delivering-birth-justice

#BirthJustice #BlackMaternalHealth #Midwifery

The U.S. maternal health crisis disproportionately affects Black and Brown people, and midwifery-led care has been shown to produce comparable or better outcomes than traditional medical models, particularly for low-risk pregnancies.

States with a greater proportion of midwife-attended births see significantly better maternal health outcomes, but many people, including policymakers, remain unaware of midwifery as a safe and effective maternal healthcare option. We’ve got to change that.

📢 Read the report. Share it. Demand change. 🔗 wearecomotion.com/insight/delivering-birth-justice

#BirthJustice #BlackMaternalHealth #Midwifery