American Association of Birth Centers, Inc.

Meet the Keynote: Dr. Monica McLemore - Understanding the Current Landscape of Midwifery and Birth Centers We are so excited to have Dr. Monica McLemore share at the 2024 AABC Birth Institute about reimagining the future of midwifery from a reproductive justice and birth equity lens. This interactive session will map the opportunities to reimagine the future. Dr. McLemore will use evidence to activate the participants to reimagine their work and end with a call to action. Using a combination of lecture, audience engagement, call and response, and self-reflection, Dr. McLemore will curate a dream to action space that should provide novel energy to birth equity and reproductive justice momentum sparked by the 30 year anniversary of this powerful analytic tool, framework, theory, and praxis. Learn more and register here: https://buff.ly/2Rfq89Z

AABC's Pennsylvania State Chapter has sparked crucial conversations in their communities! After meeting with state chapter members, the Pittsburgh Gazette has released an editorial identifying midwives as the solution to the state - as well as the country's - maternal health crisis. To read the article and spread the word, go to: https://buff.ly/3xI8q9a

We're delighted to share that Writing Us Back Into The Birth Story Trans Birth Fund is open for applications. This fund just launched from @birthcenterequitybce and @orchidcapitalcollective and supports BIPOC Trans*, Intersex, and Gender Expansive individuals and organizations with grants of $10,000 to $20,000 for birth work and family building projects. Application Deadline: July 23. Let’s build a beautiful, inclusive future together! ?? Apply now: https://buff.ly/4eQXeYL #TransBirthFund #BirthJustice #TransHealth #ReproductiveJustice

AABC understands the importance of increasing access to birth center care for all families and increasing access to education for all providers in a profession that too often centers the voices of white, affluent, cishet women at the expense of other communities. We offer Diversity + Inclusion Scholarships to Members of the Global Majority*, LGBTQIA+ folks, and people with disabilities. AABC seeks to expand access and lower barriers to entry through these scholarships. For more information and to apply for our scholarships, go to https://buff.ly/3MgGxtL

Nothing brings us joy like seeing AABC's State Chapter members in action! Five freestanding birth centers in Pennsylvania met with Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen and Secretary of Human Services Dr. Val Arkoosh for a tour of Lifecycle WomanCare. The tour included a roundtable discussion with the state representatives exploring how to improve birthing experiences and health outcomes for childbearing families in Pennsylvania, with a particular focus on people of color in their community. These face-to-face, personal interactions can profoundly impact legislation at the local and state levels, and we're proud to have members who take the time to establish these connections.

Happy Juneteenth from AABC! Today, we honor and celebrate the long overdue freeing of over 250,000 enslaved people on June 19, 1865. Since then, Black folks have continued to live in a system that marginalizes and oppresses them. This is evident in the work that we do, where we continue the fight to reduce the staggering disparities in health outcomes for Black birthing people and their infants. Do you know the significance of the color red in Juneteenth's history? Red symbolizes strength, resilience, joy, and life in West African culture. It has been used to honor these qualities in people across the African diaspora, which allowed them to overcome enslavement and engage in the continued fight for racial justice today. As such, many people celebrate Juneteenth by sharing red food and drinks: hibiscus tea or punch, watermelon and strawberries, red beans and rice, red velvet cake. We hope that this day is filled with joy, celebratory food, and - most importantly - honor for the history of Juneteenth.

Nothing brings us joy like seeing our AABC State Chapters in action! Five freestanding birth centers met with Acting Secretary of Health Dr. Debra Bogen and Secretary of Human Services Dr. Val Arkoosh for a tour of Lifecycle WomanCare. The tour included a roundtable discussion exploring how to improve birthing experiences and health outcomes for the community, with a particular focus on improving outcomes for people of color in Pennsylvania. These face-to-face, personal interactions can make a world of difference in local and state legislation and helping people understand the birth center model of care. We're proud to have AABC members who foster those crucial connections. To read more, check out: https://buff.ly/3VGoS36

Black women and birth givers have a long-standing history of disparities in health outcomes and mortality and morbidity rates when giving birth. We are grateful to have multiple articles from AABC's Perinatal Data Registry cited in a new qualitative study about Black women's experiences with giving birth in Texas and their thoughts on birth centers and midwifery care. To read more, go to: https://buff.ly/4bUINjY

We are thrilled to partner with @birthcenterequity for the second annual Birth Center Week! This event is an opportunity for us to #GrowBirthCenters and #GrowCommunity; a week to imagine a world where birth is safe, sacred, loving and celebrated in EVERY community. An entire week to honor #BirthCenters? Yes!! #BirthCenterWeek was born from the vision of former BCE member China Tolliver, in conversation with BCE CEO and Co-Founder Leseliey Welch. Event details, ways to participate and more will be coming soon! In the meantime check out birthcenterweek.org! #BirthCenterWeek #BCW2024 #GrowBirthCenters #GrowCommunity #BirthCenterEquity

The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) is examining the status of newborn screening (NBS) in their Newborn Screening, Current Landscape, Future Directions study project. Newborn screening is administered by each state through state laboratories and is mandatory in all 50 states. AABC would like to hear from you about newborn screening in your practice, and how these costs impact your bottom line. This information will be shared with NASEM. To complete our survey, go to: https://buff.ly/4c56OF6