Our Work
Mobile health clinics are a proven, cost-effective approach to expanding health care access to more than five million people each year. Many of the patients are Black and Hispanic, facing housing insecurity, uninsured, lack employment, or otherwise experience the negative effects of poverty and racism. According to the International Journal for Equity in Health’s nationwide survey of 811 mobile clinics, 45% received federal funds and 29% were independent or non-profit programs. For every dollar invested in mobile health clinics, the average return on investment is $12. Harvard Medical School's TheFamilyVan reported a $36 to $1 ROI.
Doulas provide a direct, intimate, and supportive environment for mothers-to-be and their families
Developing birth plans, implementing nutritional plans, providing emotional support, advocating for the mother’s needs with doctors and nurses, and helping to initiate breastfeeding
Doulas provide personalized care to women and families during their pregnancy, labor and birth, and postpartum. In recent years, community-based organizations have trained, hired, and contracted doulas to support pregnancy and childbirth in areas with high rates of maternal and infant mortality. By developing birth plans, implementing nutritional plans, emotional support, advocating for the mother’s needs with doctors and nurses, and helping to initiate breastfeeding, doulas provide a direct, intimate, and supportive environment for mothers-to-be and their families.
Acupuncture for fertility, prenatal, labor & delivery + postpartum support
Developed over millennia, acupuncture is an ancient medical system and epistemology, practiced for at least three thousand years in China. The word acupuncture first appeared in the English language in 1684; ‘acus’ means point, and ‘punctura’ means to prick. Based on an understanding of the elements of nature at work in the body, small, sterile needles are inserted at specified points depending on what is needed for the body to return to balance. These points directly affect the body's organs, regulating hormones, releasing stress, and promoting relaxation of the body, mind, and spirit.
Acupuncture can be utilized in an individual or group setting. Its history as a community practice in the United States was a response to public health and humanitarian crises. In the early 1970s, the Black Panthers and Young Lords brought community acupuncture to the South Bronx. During treatments at the Lincoln Detox Center, the 5-point National Acupuncture Detoxification Association protocol was developed and is still in use today. During Hurricane Katrina, Acupuncturists Without Borders was formed, providing treatments to 8,000 people.
Despite its centuries-long efficacy, there is a dearth of English language research available in acupuncture. It has proven to be safe and effective during labor and in the birthing process. Many European hospitals and midwives integrate acupuncturists into their labor services. Doula care integrated with acupuncture may:
Prenatal: Prepare women’s body for labor, ripening the cervix, release oxytocin, promote maternal uterine contraction, and relaxation and stress relief
Labor and Delivery: Reduce or relieve labor pain, shorten labor process, breach correction, promote partner intimacy (via acupuncture or acupressure)
Post-partum: Support breastfeeding, relief afterbirth pain, insomnia and loss of sleep
