Wholistic Midwifery School of Southern California
DBA The Association for Wholistic Maternal and Newborn Health
Mother-Baby Friendly Support and Education
VISION AND MISSION
“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane”
-Martin Luther King, Jr. (25 March 1966)
A 501c3 non-profit educational corporation, founded in 1993, we are a training and and advocacy organization with a grassroots, community-based approach to support direct-service providers in promoting the health of mothers, infants, and families. The organization trains community perinatal health workers, designs community-based initiatives, so as to engage and mobilize diverse stakeholders in collaboration to develop programs and policies that improve maternal and child health. Our purpose is to promote the availability and use of skilled maternity care including nurses, midwives, doulas and community health promoters, at all levels and in a variety of settings including clinics, private homes, hospitals and freestanding birth centers to promote evidence-based maternity and infant care and reduce perinatal health disparities.
WHO WE ARE
We are a dedicated group of public health professionals, childbirth educators, maternal-infant health advocates, midwives, doctors, mental health professionals and community members committed to improving the quality of maternity care and making an impact in reducing ethnic disparities in birth outcomes of mothers and infants in Los Angeles.
ABOUT OUR ORGANIZATION
Wholistic Midwifery School of Southern California is a 501c3 non-profit California educational corporation ( DBA The Association for Wholistic Maternal and Newborn Health) founded in 1993 with the purpose to promote the availability and use of skilled maternity care including nurses, midwives, doulas and community health promoters, at all levels and in a variety of settings, through the education and professional development of nurses, midwives,
doulas and community health promoters who are qualified practitioners to provide maternity care in varied settings including clinics, private homes, hospitals and freestanding birth centers and to promote evidence-based maternity and infant care and reduce perinatal health disparities. We are a training and and advocacy organization with a grass roots, community-based approach to support direct-service providers in promoting the health of mothers, infants, and families. The organization trains community perinatal health workers, designs community-based initiatives, so as to engage and mobilize diverse stakeholders to collaborate to develop wholistically-oriented programs and policies that improve maternal and child health.
We train parents, midwives, nurses, doulas and perianatal community health workers to promote natural childbirth, the midwifery model of care, breastfeeding, and woman-centered, culturally competent childbirth education and support. We are striving to improve perinatal health outcomes such as infant mortality, low birth weight and maternal mortality through the revitalization of “traditional” birth attendants–midwives and doulas. We are developing and implementing innovative initiatives that aim to close the gap on health disparities, including breastfeeding peer counselor trainings, nurse-education, and community-based doula programs.
OUR VISION
Our purpose is to improve perinatal health outcomes and quality of care, reduce health disparities, reduce neonatal and maternal disability and death. We are working to achieve He
althy People 2020 objectives for maternal-infant health and Millennium Development Goal 5: to reduce maternal mortality. We are also working to reduce disparities in prematurity and infant mortality. We are taking a global health approach to address urban health disparities in the U.S. by training skilled birth attendants (midwives and nurses) and paraprofessional community perinatal health promoters from disadvantaged urban communities where perinatal health disparities are greatest. Public health and midwifery are holistic models of care: they are collaborative, multidisciplinary, rooted in the community, promoting the health of the community members. Our vision marries the midwifery model of care with public health promotion. Our approach to improve maternity care is to promote the midwifery model of care and forward the midwifery profession. We believe doing so will help us achieve public health objectives for maternal and infant health.
OUR APPROACH
We collaborate with agencies with maternal-child health programs and social service providers. We train perinatal health workers (lay health promoters), who are dedicated to improving the health of mothers, infants and children in their communities. We provide training to organizations and institutions in “mother-baby friendly” approaches to maternity care. Also, we are mobilizing multidisciplinary stakeholders to implement wholistic policies and programs that will improve maternal and child health in Los Angeles.
WHAT WE MEAN BY ”WHOLISTIC” MATERNITY CARE
Our intent is to mobilize the community to implement culturally appropriate wholistic approaches to perinatal health so as to improve outcomes and quality of maternity care in all settings: clinics, hospitals, birth centers and domiciliary settings. We promote an integrated, multi-disciplinary approach to maternity care which encompasses the physiological, psychological, and socio-ecological determinants of health. Our vision is to work in harmony and collaboration with a variety of care providers, both conventional and alternative including hospitals, clinics, medical doctors,
nurses, midwives, mental health specialists, health educators, nutritionists and paraprofessionals (such as doulas), community health promoters, breastfeeding peer counselors and perinatal case managers, as well as chiropractors and other allied health professionals with specialization in maternity and newborn health.
We are committed to ensuring skilled attendants at all births
This is considered to be the single most critical intervention for ensuring safe motherhood. When women have access to quality prenatal care they can have healthier pregnancies. While
undisturbed birth proceeds normally for the vast majority of women who are in good health, all women deserve to have a skilled attendant present to recognize problems early and to intervene and manage complications should they occur.
We are committed to developing an opportunity for women’s economic empowerment and vocational development in communities of color
We will be located in a region of Los Angeles where birth outcomes are the poorest and provide an opportunity for urban renewal and vocational training by establishing a midwifery training birthing center in the region.
We intend to create a compassionate, harmonic birthing environment for families
In the form of a birth center that embraces cultural diversity and a holistic model of care and promotes mother/infant bonding and secure attachment.
We are ensuring linkages and solid collaboration
We are working with existing hospitals, clinics, birth outcomes focused programs, and community based organizations.
We support increased integration of midwifery and doula care
We support the integration of these qualified professionals into standard prenatal and postnatal care.
If you believe in our mission and vision, and want to contribute your talents and expertise, please contact us. We have numerous ways you can get involved. Or you can make a tax-deductible donation.
For inquiries, please contact 626-388-2191 or email cordeliahc@socalbirth.com
