FERGUSON, Mo. — In Missouri, data shows black women have higher maternal mortality and morbidity rates than white women, one St. Louis area organization is trying to change that one life at a time.
Behind the brick walls of a small building tucked away in Ferguson, black women are breaking down barriers to maternal health care.
“At Jamaa Birth Village, we focus on the solutions. We understand that there's a crisis outside of our doors. We've created a village where women are seen and they're heard,” Okunsola Amadou, Jamaa Birth Village founder and CEO, said.
Jamaa Birth Village is Missouri’s first black-owned midwifery clinic.
Outside of their doors, Missouri black women are three times more likely to die while pregnant or within one year of pregnancy than white women.
Amadou said 84% of those deaths are preventable.
“We do have a maternal mortality crisis because we have systemic and structural issues where black women are treated differently than any other race in America. So there's bias, there's implicit bias. There's hospital culture. Women aren't properly informed or given the choices and options that they should. All of that negatively impacts, the health and well-being of women,” Amadou said.
Amadou said they provide a wide range of services for all income levels including mid-wife care for women with low-risk pregnancies who want to give birth outside of the hospital and doula care.
“Doulas help with prenatal nutrition care and education and support that can help to keep mamas pregnant longer. They can also help moms to navigate the system and make better choices,” Amadou said.
They also provide education, an herbal apothecary, a supplement store a chiropractic and massage therapy room and a spa.
“We also have this color therapy sauna. The sauna can be used for preconception and postpartum healing. It’s really good for moms who have experienced multiple losses,” Amadou said.
Myrina Otey-Myton, who is a mother of five and expecting a sixth, said when she conceived her fourth child, she decided the traditional hospital experience wasn’t for her so she turned to Jamaa Birth Village.
“I felt like I could make my own decisions and it did take a lot of willpower for me to learn to trust my body. That was something that I didn't feel empowered to do in hospitals is to trust myself,” Otey-Myton said.
5 On Your Side’s Laura Barczewski asked Otey-Myton, “Did you have complications or trouble where you needed your midwife or doula to step in?”
“100% yes,” Otey-Myton said.
She said she was in labor with her fourth child when her amniotic sac started leaking and then the baby stopped moving.
“I'm talking to Okunsola and I'm like, I need help making a decision. She's like, 'They say if they would do a trial birth with you at the hospital, so let's just go to the hospital so that we can make sure the baby's doing OK.' We go to the hospital and come to find out, it's against their rules for them to do a trial birth with me due to my previous birthing experiences. I remember being so hurt and on the phone with Okunsola, and I'm like, 'They lied to me,'” Otey-Myton said.
Otey-Myton ended up having a C-section that time but said her team at Jamaa helped her make a plan that she was comfortable with.
She wants all moms to know they have options.
“You may not even know what your needs are, but start to get in a space where you know you're starting to anticipate some of those things so that you can get some questions answered. Before you make your final decision on where you want to birth, who you want your practitioner to be, ensure that they're meeting those needs,” Otey-Myton said.
Jamaa Birth Village is in the process of expanding to create a birth center and postpartum retreat haven but needs the community’s help.
To learn more about their services and how to donate click here.