Envisioning a Birth Justice World
What does a birth justice world look like?
Simply put, birth justice is a mother’s and parent’s right to ensure our own and our baby’s well-being.
We envision a world where… Our babies are well, our families are thriving and we have full access to the tools and support needed to exercise our rights. It intersects with all aspects of our lives: social, political, economic, emotional, and spiritual. Birth justice recognizes that all peoples can birth and be parents and works toward a world where fertility care and choices are celebrated as part of reproductive freedom (whether preventing, achieving, or spacing pregnancies) free from stigma or exploitation by the medical-industrial complex.
We envision a world where… We are able to be in the bodies that hold us whole as sacred waters not parts. We are gathered in unity and respect for individuality. We speak truth to power in a symphony of support. We don’t need mirrors to see our souls because we reflect that in each other through the values of inclusion and justice. We decolonize our hearts and minds through community and connection.
People of color, immigrant peoples, and LGBTQIA+ communities in particular have survived a history of trauma and oppression around our decisions to have and not have babies.
We envision a world where… Activism is our birthright. We believe that changing the landscape of bodies, reproduction and birth — locally, nationally and globally — is part of our legacy. There are many stories of birth justice; this particular one is foundational and seminal.
We advance the Birth Justice Framework to provide language that does not exist on a national platform at this time in the burgeoning movement advocating for access to midwives and doulas. We advocate for birthing rights as a justice issue. We demand medical racism and obstetric violence named as root causes of Black maternal and infant death. We are shifting stereotypical narratives of health disparities to conversations about the function of power in healthcare settings. We are connecting the intersections of race and gender as a lens through which to understand birth.
We are documenting the workforce decimation of Black and Indigenous midwives and healers. We are centering of LGBTQIA+ people in the work of birth justice. We are articulating Black cultural specificity and excellence as forms of ancient technology that saves lives. We embrace birth as a key part of our liberation story as oppressed people. We were not the first to say these things or even to write about them, however acknowledging the birth of birth justice means uplifting the first framework, workshops, curricula and grassroots organizations that have been consistently building this movement since 2009 utilizing the language, values, and praxis of birth justice.
We know that when we, mothers and parents, are empowered, our community is transformed. If we bring our babies into the world, with justice, in the natural way, without anyone telling us how to do it, then it nurtures our innate power as mothers and parents to create a free world for our children to play and learn and grow.
We envision a world where… Through our connections to the planet, the land and to nature. With the smiles of the youth as motivation, we activate our internal power to develop solutions to local and global challenges. We integrate healing and cultural wisdom into our daily lives. We free ourselves to the soundtrack of our children’s laughter.
Birth justice includes access to healthcare during the childbearing year that is holistic, humanistic, and culturally centered. This healthcare is across the pregnancy spectrum including: abortion, miscarriage, prenatal, birth, and postpartum care.
We envision a world where… There is a midwife on every block and a birth center in every hood. We are the healers we need and we build what we don’t have with what our ancestors taught us. We remember care in the ways of the ancients and we utilize the principle of Sankofa to bring forward that which we need now to actualize the fullness of our humanity. This care feels like the deep exhale after a warm group hug of loved ones.
Birth justice includes the right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy, to choose when, where, how, and with whom to birth, including access to traditional and indigenous healers, such as midwives and other birthworkers, and the right to breastfeeding support.
We envision a world where… Human milk flows like a river to all the babies who need it to grow. Support is everywhere and the air feels safe. We are full of joy and dancing as we excavate the ancestral narratives that liberate us. Our rights, stories, and dreams are reflected in the policies that govern our homes and our worlds. We remold the world with clay and love.
The complete range of pregnancy, labor, and birth options should be available to everyone as an integral part of Reproductive Justice. These are our rights as mothers and parents.
We envision a world where… There are no waiting rooms, no turning people away, and no inability to pay barriers that keep someone from the care they need. We embody life that creates consensually and exponentially unto itself. We live in a world where our lives are sacred and everything around us supports that reality.
Birthing the Future
We are creating a world where birthing people are honored, supported, and safe. A world where access to midwifery care is not an exception but the rule. A world where reproductive justice is not a privilege but a human right.
Birth justice is not just about policy or medical care—it is about power, autonomy, and the fundamental right to bring life into the world with dignity and joy. It is about ensuring that every person—regardless of race, gender, or identity—can birth in safety, in community, and surrounded by love.
Together, we are the architects of this future. We are the midwives of a new world.
