$333,000 invested in Jamaa Birth Village to build a life-saving, groundbreaking birth center and postpartum retreat haven

“Oftentimes Black women voice when something is wrong or doesn’t feel right and they’re ignored because they are not valued or respected in society, let alone the healthcare sector,” says Okunsola Amadou, CEO and Founder of Jamaa Birth Village.

Having survived two traumatic birthing experiences herself, Okunsola knows firsthand the compounding gender and racial discrimination Black women experience throughout their lives and in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. According to the CDC, Black women are three times as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes than white women, up a staggering 48% from 2018 to 2020. Black infants are more than twice as likely to die than white infants.

Having Jamaa’s team of doulas and midwives provide comprehensive, culturally congruent care is paramount. “Providing people the option to have a choice . . . within our community where people who look like them are providing the care is everything,” she says.

You might’ve met Okunsola (formerly known as Tru) in 2020 after we invested $135,000 to build Jamaa’s equal access midwifery clinic, the region’s first where patients can receive care regardless of income.

A pillar of the community, the Jamaa team has served 800+ families, helping patients with everything from doula support to mental health visits. They’ve been so successful that they are expanding again.

We’ve invested $333,000 to build a 5,000 square foot, groundbreaking birth center and postpartum retreat haven with:

• Three water birthing suites and three clinic rooms
• Four postpartum retreat huts and haven, allowing parents to stay on-site for seven days to receive continuous, holistic care

“The type of care, the type of information, and the type of support that is given and made available to white women no matter their income, no matter their education—it is not made available to Black women no matter our income, insurance type, ZIP code or education.

We are going to give it to our community,” says Okunsola.

The birth center and postpartum retreat haven will break ground next year. We will keep you updated, but in the meantime, thank you for making Okunsola’s vision a reality.