It’s never been done: A Black-led Birthing Center will Serve Detroit
Parents in Detroit will soon be able to seek birthing care at a Black-led freestanding birth center, the first of its kind in Michigan.
Birth Detroit, a community-based maternal health-care provider led by midwives on Detroit’s northwest side, has been serving families via the Easy Access Clinic in recent years. The goal from its inception in 2018 was to have its own center, said Elon Geffrard, Birth Detroit’s co-founder and perinatal support and education director.
That goal will soon come to fruition.
After launching a fundraising campaign in 2022, Birth Detroit raised $4 million to fund a freestanding birth center. Geffrard revealed that the nonprofit will host a grand-opening party in October to celebrate. Geffrard said that the organization plans to move its services out of its shared space with Brilliant Detroit (a nonprofit supporting kids and families) to its new center, and serve more families. Geffrard stated that Birth Detroit also has a partnership with Henry Ford Health, a nonprofit organization dedicated to health care, to send patients in an emergency to the nearby facility. The center also provides classes on nutrition, stress management and stages of labor. “We wanted to be the first.” “And so we wanted to be the first.”
Funding and building a birth center
From left, speakers at the Black Maternal Health Conference: Kimberly Durdin, network engagement director of Birth Center Equity; Leseliey Welch, co-founder and board president of Birth Detroit and founder and CEO of Birth Center Equity; and Gianna Fay, midwifery director of Birth Center Equity
Birth Detroit’s efforts to create the birth center started before the COVID-19 pandemic hit, but when it arrived, Geffrard said, “We knew we needed to help families navigate systems that were oftentimes leaving them without support and advocacy.”
The center features two private exam rooms, a co-working space, laundry room, and a large birth suite that can be divided into two smaller birth suites, said Patrick Linder, managing partner at Detroit-based architecture firm Partners’ Design Build.
While designing the space, Linder said he sat with Birth Detroit’s midwives for two- or three-hour conversations. The space was then designed to make it feel like “a maxi home and not a miniature hospital” where families and parents can feel comfortable. The birthing room has a curbless bathroom, a private terrace, and a kitchenette equipped with a microwave, mini-refrigerator and dimmable lighting. When divided into two smaller suites, each birthing suite is temperature controlled
The birthing suite has a kitchenette with a mini-refrigerator, dimmable lights, and an inflatable tub that can be filled and drained using a customized system, Linder said. Linder added, “I hope they feel welcome.” The center has a station called the “care square”, which includes a medical fridge, lockers and a station to wash hands. “I hope that they feel welcome and like they belong,” Linder said.
The center’s staff wrote their “intentions, prayers, hopes and
affirmations” onto the beams before they were covered in drywall. Geffrard said that one of her affirmations was, “We will not lose one.” This was a prayer for no child or parent to die on their watch. “We did not get into this work just to feel good,” she said.
We came to make an impact because mothers and babies were dying in our community. We came to make a difference because mothers and babies in our community were dying, and they did not have to.” In 2021, the nonprofit hired Wright Collective, a nationwide fundraising agency, to assist with money raising. Reflecting on her 15-year tenure in philanthropy, Alyssa Wright, founder and principal of the Wright Collective, said many nonprofits remain dependent upon donors, because they don’t receive enough money to own their assets and build wealth within the community.
After launching its fundraising campaign, Birth Detroit raised funding from both large nonprofits such as the W.K. Wright explained that the Kellogg Foundation, as well as community supporters, provided funding to buy the land, build the facility, hire a clinical staff, and run the center for the next two years. Geffrard explained that because Michigan does not reimburse its midwives for community care, Birth Detroit continues to raise funds to support its staff. Henry Ford Health recognizes the need for better care in relation to maternal social and ethnic inequalities in the community. We hope that the birth of the Birth Detroit Birthing Center will help address those needs. According to the American Association for Birth Centers, as of January 2022 there were 400 birthing centers in 40 states. This is up from 124 back in 1984. In 2022, the U.S. maternal mortality rate was 22 people per 100,000 babies. This is higher than other wealthy nations. According to a Commonwealth Fund report, Black women’s maternal mortality rate was the highest among all US women. According to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in 2022 13 Black babies died per 1,000 births, which was higher than just over four white infant deaths per 1,000 deaths. In 2022, 13 Black babies died per 1,000 births, higher than about just over four white infant deaths per 1,000 deaths, according to the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).[our]In Detroit’s Wayne County, the Black infant mortality rate was roughly 16 per 1,000 deaths between 2020 and 2022, more than double the death rate of white infants per 1,000 births in that same period, according to the HHS figures.
Detroit and its surrounding metro area are filled with renowned hospitals and medical facilities. Despite the fact that traditional medical systems are often large, they may not be able to keep up with families throughout their pregnancy. By contrast, birth center care allows families to get more frequent check-ins and possibly spot potential risks along the way, Geffrard said.
As awareness about the U.S. maternal death rate grows, the rise of birth centers could partially be attributed to the realization that the maternal death problem is “affecting all of us,” Geffrard said.
“Systems are also being put to task because of preventable deaths happening in systems,” she said. She said that preventable deaths in systems are also being held accountable.
