MHEC is filling in the gaps of care for community birth workers.

The Maternal Health Equity Collaborative is a support organization for community based perinatal health organizations. We are currently a collective of five birth and parenting organizations to include Mama Sana Vibrant Woman (MSVW), Black Mamas ATX (BMATX), Healing Hands Community Doula Project, Partners in Parenting (PIP), and Giving Austin Labor Support (GALS). Collectively we serve over 1,000 families per year with free services such as doula care, childcare, childbirth education, mental health support, financial assistance, and community baby showers. Together we share the mission to make birth safer for Black and Brown families in Central Texas.

The MHEC GAP FUND supports our member organizations, childcare specialists and birth workers with funds to fill in the gaps of care for essentials such as housing, food, perinatal care, childcare, continued education, therapy, emergency and natural disaster relief. This initiative allows The Maternal Health Equity Collaborative to meet collective care needs that align with our pillars of Birth Worker Sustainability, Power Building and Organizing, Holistic Care, and Thriving Communities.

Since inception we have raised and distributed over $35,000. So far this year we have distributed nearly $20,000 in funds to support the needs of childcare providers and birth workers in our network. The average requested amount has been $1600 and the number 1 need has been housing assistance. It is important to us that professional care givers of color have their basic needs met as they are serving the needs of the families in our community. Everyone deserves the opportunity to thrive.

With the help of your generous contributions we will be able to continue uplifting the wellbeing of caregivers of color who help to improve birth outcomes for families of Central Texas.

Thank you!

More information about MHEC:

Our vision is for Black and Brown communities to enter a new world where birth is a safe, healthy, and joyful experience for all.

The Maternal Health Equity Collaborative centers Black women and women of color in leading the collaborative and within the community we serve. The approach to service provision is not prescriptive or based on hypothetical needs but based in the actual needs of the community from a space of solidarity. The MHEC is building community through humanization, healing, and creating a legacy for generations to come.

The MHEC was forged out of necessity in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure that Black birthing people have access to equitable perinatal care and organizations have community support. The group began as a place to build power and advocate for doulas and birth workers to remain in the hospitals in spite of restrictive policies that further isolated black birthing families and put them at risk. After solidifying doulas as essential members of the healthcare team with local hospitals, MHEC then conducted an internal needs assessment using human-centered design to analyze current services and understand the gaps in care for perinatal folks in the region. With the data organization Measure’s support, we conducted a BIPOC lived experience survey to gain further input on community needs. From this, the Perinatal Childcare Program for Black Families and other efforts of reproductive justice were derived. The Childcare program was created because many Black families were having Child Protective Services (CPS) called on them when they would show up to give birth without adequate childcare for their other children. The program now provides free, high quality care for families during birth, perinatal health appointments and for respite during postpartum.

The MHEC became a 501c3 nonprofit on October 17, 2024 with 20, mostly Black and Brown woman co-founders. Many of us are birth workers, community based organizational staff, and parents of lived experience navigating the maternal health landscape of Central Texas ourselves. Over the past five years the MHEC has had numerous successes in our work to amplify our four pillars: Birth Worker Sustainability, Power Building and Organizing, Holistic Care and Thriving Communities. Some of the most meaningful wins include:

Publishing the Spirit of Possibilities Report
Receiving the Safer Childbirth Cities grant to begin the Perinatal Childcare for Black Families project in April 2021
Holding twice yearly Community Baby showers, providing basic needs items and resources to over 300 families per event
Organizing and hosting a Rally to demand the release the delayed 2021 Maternal Mortality and Morbidity Review Committee report
Implementing a Respite and appointment-based childcare program beginning October 2021 that has served over 76 families with 2,900 hours of culturally competent support.
Adding On-call childcare for emergency hospitalizations and mental health complications in 2022.
Supporting individual MHEC organizations through grants with HRSA Health Start, Boldly Blue doula workforce initiative, and value adding contract with a Medicaid MCO.
Creating a Gap fund to support organizations and individuals in need of financial support, such as covering parental leave, helping relocate after domestic violence situations, aiding in rent, support in access to home birth care, and providing wellness funds for members to care for themselves. Through this fund, MHEC has distributed over $35,000 to members and organizations.

Rooted in community and collaboration, the MHEC continues to make meaningful change in Central Texas. Through individual services offered through each organization, as well as through the partnership that created the Childcare Program for Black families, MHEC is changing the perinatal landscape in Texas by offering accessible prenatal, birth, and postpartum care and creating a pocket of safety for the hundreds of families served by each member organization. It is well documented that it is dangerous to be Black and Brown and pregnant in Texas, and the MHEC is actively combating this through human-centered and community-informed care. Each individual organization is life-saving, and the community fostered by the collaborative MHEC only makes this more powerful and far-reaching.

Wellness for Birth Workers

By The Maternal Health Equity Collaborative

Wellness for Birth Workers

Support MHEC in resourcing our Gap Fund that benefits Community Birth Workers

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