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Birthing Project now has three e-mail based groups that will allow members,
staff, participants and supporters to connect from any location!
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The
Birthing Project Story
Once upon a time, in a place called Sacramento, a baby boy was born.
Although DeAndre only lived ten days, he quietly became the
symbol
of a national movement that changed the course of history…
As a public
health program advisor with the California State Department of Health
Services, Kathryn Hall was well aware of the big picture of health
care and its costs when she began The Birthing Project in
1988. At that time, her intent was to ask ten community volunteers
to provide one-on-one friendship, education and practical support
to ten pregnant teens and women as a way of demonstrating that this
was a cost effective way of decreasing infant mortality and morbidity
in the African-American community.
All public
health professionals use the term “infant mortality” almost on a
daily basis. It was not until Ms. Hall held a 10-day old baby boy
named DeAndre shortly after his life slipped away, that she internalized
the meaning of those words as “counting dead babies.” DeAndre’s
short life became the impetus for The Birthing Project to
become both a method of improving birth outcomes and a national
movement to educate and invite community people to become involved.
Each of
the founding mothers of The Birthing Project were paired with a
pregnant teen or woman, serving as her friend, elder sister and
advocate during her pregnancy and until the child’s first birthday.
The founding father provided support to the babies’ fathers.
Since then,
over 10,000 babies have been born into over 70 birthing Projects
nationally. Although our services target African American
women, we welcome pregnant women of all ethnicities who need medical
care and social support to optimize their birth outcomes.
More
Model Programs "Sister Friends"
More
Model Programs "Academy of Dreams"
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Model Programs "Beauty Salon"
More
Model Programs "The BarberShop"
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