Philadelphia’s Maternal Wellness Village (MWV), a program under the auspices of Oshun Family Center, is a transdisciplinary village of Black birth workers that include therapists, doulas, lactation consultants, holistic healers, infertility warriors, and nurses. The primary mission of MWV is to reclaim the Black birth experience and eliminate Black maternal morbidity and mortality. Between October 2019 and January 2021, the 10 founding MWV members have served more than 175 families with essential and wrap-around care including psychotherapy services, doula care, lactation, and/or psychoeducational support groups before, during and after pregnancy. MWV additionally functions as an action-oriented task force and as leaders in Philadelphia’s reproductive justice community. It is the vision of MWV to charge allies, legislators, lawmakers, hospitals, educators, and the community to shift from raising awareness to becoming action-oriented in regard to eliminating Black maternal mortality.

Maternity Care Coalition (MCC) is a community-based, nonprofit organization serving Southeastern Pennsylvania and working in neighborhoods with high rates of poverty, infant mortality, health disparities and changing immigration patterns. MCC was founded in 1980 with the mission to improve the health and well-being of pregnant women and parenting families, and enhance school readiness for children 0-3. Since that time, MCC has assisted over 125,000 families across the region. In 2013, led by Naima Black, a veteran doula and advocate for reproductive justice, MCC launched its inaugural community doula training program. Over the past six years, MCC has scaled up their program by training a diverse network of over 160 community doulas and breastfeeding peer counselors, predominantly women of color who serve their own communities with culturally competent skills and confidence.

With a participation of more than 55,000 socioeconomically disadvantaged families, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) of Philadelphia County has grown to become the largest single county WIC Program in Pennsylvania, providing direct health and nutrition education, access to health care, and referrals to health and human service programs for pregnant and postpartum women, infants and pre-school children.