Birth Justice
Our work of reclaiming the village begins with birth justice. We provide resources and supportive services during pregnancy and throughout their first year postpartum, centering the experiences of Black and Indigenous People of Color. Our goal is to reduce the barriers and risk factors many face while seeking healthcare and support during pregnancy, birth, and postpartum.
Red Birth Green (RBG) was founded as the Rootead Doula Collective in 2016 as a way to address Black infant mortality with community care and principles of traditional healing practices. Equitable access and care for all is and has always been our driving mission.
RBG provides accessible, full-spectrum reproductive care to the Kalamazoo area. Our WOC-founded and led team offers all-embracing community care for the modern age.
Red Birth Green
We believe in the principle of Sankofa, which teaches us that we must remember our past to move forward in the future. Our birthwork philosophy combines traditional healing practices and collectivism with a modern standard of care.
We meet our clients where they are, without judgment or opinion. Your lived experiences are important and valuable, and we will always trust your judgment. This is your body and your birth; our goal is to empower all families to advocate for themselves through shared knowledge and connections.
See how we work together with our clients by viewing our Birth Doula Contract.
Outcomes
- 90 Babies welcomed as of December 2021
- 99% Breastfeeding initiation rate
- 98% of RBG client pregnancies reach 37 weeks gestation or more
- 99% of RBG client babies are born at a healthy weight (5.5 lbs or more)
Meet the Red Birth Green Community Doula Collective
Stephanie
Hello, my name is Stephanie. I am a birth and postpartum doula at Rootead and facilitate workshops throughout the community on topics relating to Maternal Child Health. While I love being in the homes of clients & promoting their rest and recovery, my passion for education, birth justice, and self-advocacy skills is weaved throughout everything I do. I have been a part of the birth world for the past 5 years and hope to be for many more years as I continue my education to be a Certified Professional Midwife.
Brittany
Greetings. My name is Brittany. I love working with families and youth with a special passion for helping Black/brown moms and their children. I believe one of the most powerful connections is between mom and baby during the birthing experience. I work to make women feel comfortable and empowered during their births.
Chéree
I have been with Red Birth Green since 2018. My passion lies within achieving equity. I have decades of experience in addressing racial equity and I am a certified racial healing practitioner. I love advocating for women of color and birth justice in my role as a certified doula.
Emily
I believe every birthing person deserves to have a doula by their side, and I am so honored to be initiated into this sacred work through Red Birth Green. I strongly believe in supporting empowered and peaceful pregnancy, birth, and postpartum times for families, and I feel extremely grateful to be allowed space in these most tender moments.
Evelyn
I absolutely love being a Doula. I am unconditional and non-judgmental with a passionate desire of being a Doula. I believe in helping women to have a safe, memorable and empowering birth. I believe every woman should have the opportunity to have a Doula and no woman should have to birth alone.
Kijah (Ki-yah)
My name is Kijah and I am a DONA and Rootead trained doula, passionate about birthing justice and empowering people and their communities through pregnancy and postpartum. I became a doula because I believe that the role of support during such a unique time in a persons life, is sacred and needed.
Tierené
Better known as T in the community, Tierené has lived in Kalamazoo since relocating from Grand Rapids for school in 2008. She graduated with degrees in Social Work from WMU in 2013 and Licensed Practical Nursing from Kellogg Community College in 2020. She completed her Certified Lactation Counselor from the Healthy Children Project and ALPP in 2019, and her Birth and Postpartum Doula certifications from Rootead in 2023. She loves to dance, sing, meet new people, travel, build intimate, strong, and meaningful relationships, empowering everyone to do and be their best, and BABIES! T can't wait to serve her community one blissful birth at a time!
Taijah
Taijah's journey into the world of birth support began with a deeply transformative birth experience. Motivated by the desire to ensure that all birthing individuals feel safe, empowered, loved, cared for, seen, and heard throughout their entire journey, she embarked on the path to become a birth doula through DONA International in April 2022. In her role as a doula, Taijah embodies a supportive, calm, compassionate, empathetic, and nonjudgmental presence. Rejecting the notion that birth is something to fear, she finds joy in collaborating with clients and their families, guiding them to embrace their inherent "birthing power" through education, openness, and meaningful conversation.
Beyond her doula work, Taijah treasures moments spent with her family, indulges in reading and journaling, takes nature walks, and finds solace in bathing her crystals in the moonlight.
Interested in becoming a Doula?
If you are interested in learning more about our Rootead Community-Based Doula Program in partnership with Connect One, please click the button to register to attend our Community Convening Virtual Meeting on July 9th.
Rootead is proud to be a Perinatal Safe Spot!
A Perinatal Safe Spot is a physical or virtual space, or both – a place where women and families can safely connect and find support.
A Perinatal Safe Spot is also a place to utilize the four tenets of The JJ Way® model of care which enable ANYBODY who cares to make a positive difference in a pregnant or parenting woman’s life.
The tenets are to provide ACCESS, CONNECTIONS, KNOWLEDGE and EMPOWERMENT in order to increase the opportunities for a positive birth outcome.
Obodo (Oh-Bow-Doe) is a revolutionary initiative in perinatal care. Based in the heart of Kalamazoo, we use a culturally-relevant, communal approach to providing the access, connections, and knowledge that allow our clients to feel empowered in their reproductive choices.
Services
- Pregnancy Testing
- Fertility Education
- Lactation Counseling
- Full-Spectrum Doula Care
- Pregnancy Release Care
- Perinatal Health Assessments
- Nurse Consultations
- Community Resource Hub
- Parenting Groups
- Natural Living Education
- Early Childhood Enrichment
