Birth justice is essential to health equity. Across the U.S., organizations led by women and gender-expansive people of color are advancing care and systems change for birthing people and families. Yet they often face systemic racism, sexism, and exclusion from mainstream health and policy spaces—and lack the long-term support needed to transform those systems.
Through its $16 million Birth Justice investment, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation supported BIPOC-led organizations working at the intersection of community power-building and health care transformation. These organizations address inequities across the continuum, from abortion access and maternal health care to postpartum support, while also working for systemic reforms.
Our evaluation highlights the multi-level strategies these organizations use: supporting individual birthing people and families, influencing institutions and policies, and building networks and coalitions that amplify collective power. Intermediary funders played a critical role in connecting and resourcing local groups, offering capacity-building support, and elevating birth justice in the national conversation.
The path to equitable, respectful, and person-centered birthing care requires sustained investment in the leaders and networks already making change.
Explore the full report to see how birth justice organizations are reimagining whole-person health care and how philanthropy can strengthen their capacity to lead.