OUR APPROACH

Beloved Birth: A Vision for Gold-Standard Care

Midwifery-led, community-centered care grounded in public health holds the answers families need. Our approach closes gaps in access and outcomes, so every family—especially Black families carrying the greatest burden of harm—can thrive.

A pregnant woman standing in a lush tropical garden with banana and palm trees, smiling and posing with one hand on her hip. She is wearing a light-colored oversized shirt and tie-dye patterned pants.
A pregnant woman standing in a lush tropical garden with banana and palm trees, smiling and posing with one hand on her hip. She is wearing a light-colored oversized shirt and tie-dye patterned pants.

OUR PHILOSOPHY

Our Beloved Approach to Birth Care

Six principles guide our vision for care transformation, from first visit through postpartum and beyond.

Empowering Families

Families are honored as decision makers, equipped with the information and support for a confident birth.

Held in Community

In groups, families receive care from providers who share their lived experience, creating a built-in village of support.

Midwifery-led

Midwives lead pregnancy, birth, and postpartum care, partnering with doctors when medical support is needed.

Holistic

Care nurtures mind, body, and spirit, providing wrap-around care coordination and wellness services to support nutrition, movement, mental health, and more.

Seamlessly Integrated & Safe by Design

Public health, healthcare delivery, and community collaborate. Families move easily between care settings based on their needs.

Accountable & Evolving Responsibly

Health systems listen to community and keep improving and evolving so every family receives the highest quality care.

OUR ECOSYSTEM

Aligning Our Local Birth Equity Ecosystem

Beloved Birth Collective was born in Oakland, California, in 2020 as a grassroots collective, formed to co-design our community's Black group prenatal care program through Alameda County's Perinatal Equity Initiative. That work brought three partners together to build community-centered perinatal care that helps Black families survive and thrive.

Three women standing side by side, smiling. The woman on the left wears a beige T-shirt with "Beloved Birth Facilitator" printed on it and blue jeans. The woman in the middle wears glasses, a yellow sweater with a logo, and ripped jeans. The woman on the right wears a beige T-shirt with the same text and logo, and red pants.
Three women standing side by side, smiling. The woman on the left wears a beige T-shirt with "Beloved Birth Facilitator" printed on it and blue jeans. The woman in the middle wears glasses, a yellow sweater with a logo, and ripped jeans. The woman on the right wears a beige T-shirt with the same text and logo, and red pants.

Public Health

Alameda County Health

Care coordination, wrap-around support, resources, and referrals, plus co-facilitation of group visits, and a public health lens on evaluation and innovation.

Illustration of three women, two midwives and one as a healthcare professional, standing together against a black background.
Illustration of three women, two midwives and one as a healthcare professional, standing together against a black background.

Healthcare Delivery

Alameda Health System

Midwifery-led, team-based clinical care for every pregnancy, from low-risk to medically complex, plus clinician-led evaluation and innovation through our research partnership with UC Berkeley's Wallace Center.

Community

Beloved Birth Collective

Community-centered program design, childbirth education, alumni and community engagement, care team wellness, and evaluation and innovation grounded in the voices of mothers and alumni.

BELOVED BIRTH BLACK CENTERING

Our Transformative Vision in Action

Together with our founding collaborators (Alameda County Health & Alameda Health System), we co-designed Beloved Birth Black Centering (BBBC). 

BBBC combines multiple proven solutions from the Beloved Birth Transformation vision for care to offer our Black families high-quality, evidence-based, and community-centered perinatal care. 

In its first five years, BBBC has dramatically transformed care experiences and health outcomes for our community.

LOCAL FAMILIES

Expecting in Oakland or Alameda County, California?

Are you pregnant and interested in getting prenatal care in Beloved Birth Black Centering? Reach out in your first or early second trimester to secure your spot in an upcoming group. You don't have to be an Alameda Health System patient already, and Beloved Birth is covered by Medi-Cal.

Call Alameda Health System’s Centering Enrollment Coordinator at (510) 847-1893 or email centering@alamedahealthsystem.org

“[Beloved] provides info to families; step by step "game plans" for pregnancy, birth, labor, and postpartum; and forms a safe space & community for mothers.”

— Beloved Mama

OUR VALUES

What Guides Our Work

These values ground and guide our care transformation work.

A woman with curly hair wearing a colorful headscarf, earrings, and a necklace, sitting back with legs extended, reading a book.

Liberation & Body Autonomy

Every person has the right to informed choice about their body, pregnancy, and birth.

Two women standing back-to-back, one holding a sign that says 'My Body My Choice!'

Birth & Reproductive Justice

Equity, dignity, and freedom in perinatal care are matters of justice, not optional extras.

A woman sitting cross-legged with a plant, surrounded by icons related to health, fitness, and self-care, including exercise, healthy eating, childbirth, vitamins, and medical health.

Joy & Healing

Joy is a powerful force for healing, a necessity, and a form of restoration for our community.

An illustration of a woman with red hair sitting cross-legged, holding her pregnant belly, smiling, wearing a pink and yellow shirt and colorful shorts.

Holistic &
Accessible Care

High-quality care honors mind, body, and spirit and should be accessible to every family.

An illustration of a woman holding a young child on her lap, both facing each other, with a black background.
A structural line
A structural line
A structural line
A structural line

Integration & Co-Creation

A just perinatal system weaves together trust, collaboration, and shared leadership.

OUR NETWORK NEWSLETTER

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