FERGUSON, Mo. — Striving for a safer childbirth city is the mission of one St. Louis-area maternal health organization.
Jamaa Birth Village specializes in midwifery and Doula care services and provides holistic support. Okunsola Amadou, CEO and founder, said it's specifically focused on combating birth disparities and health inequities for Black and marginalized women.
"We want them to know that they matter, that they deserve beautiful, healthy, joyful experiences, and we're going to help to make sure of that," she said.
It's a promise near and dear to Amadou's heart.
"I wanted to make sure that people had access to midwives, doulas, mental health education in their community and other social support services so that they could survive in childbirth and not die in childbirth," she said.
Those are resources that didn't exist when Amadou was pregnant.
"I had two traumatic births as a teenager," she said. "I was just treated poorly, and I had bad outcomes. After those two traumatic births, I said, 'I have to do something about this,' like, 'There's a better way.'"
That's why Amadou founded Jamaa Birth Village, Missouri's first Black-owned midwifery clinic. It filled a void that she said desperately needed to be filled since Black women are three to five times more likely to die in childbirth.
"It's not because that they're Black, that there's something inherently wrong with them. It's because of systemic and structural racism," she said.
According to Amadou, 24% of maternal mortality deaths are preventable with mental health, which is why those resources are a key component at Jamaa Birth Village.
"It helps to improve their mental, emotional well-being to know that they're not alone, to know that they don't have to stress out if they don't have the things that they need," she said.
That's why the maternal health organization hosted a baby shower on Sunday. Amadou said they wanted to give mothers resources and items, not only for their babies but also for themselves.
"They received education, inspiration, and tangible physical items to help them on their journey. It's really life or death," she said.
Amadou hopes the shower brought mothers joy, wisdom and knowledge, but most importantly a place they can always turn to for help.
"We're here for the community for the long haul," she said.
Jamaa Birth Village is currently working on building Missouri's first Black-led birth center and postpartum retreat haven.