Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative's Community-Based Doula Program

Black Maternal Health Week is near to celebrate, highlight, and uplift Black birthing families.

According to the Oklahoma State Department of Health, Black Americans have the highest infant mortality rate (2020-2022) in Tulsa County. Combined, Black and Native people are six times more likely to endure pregnancy-related maternal mortalities compared to White people.

Systemic factors like culturally incompetent healthcare workers and medical racism prolong these health barriers.

Based in Tulsa, Oklahoma, and founded in 2019, the Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative’s (OKBEI) mission is to “equip families to have healthy births with dignity and reduce maternal health disparities—creating a healthier, more equitable community for all.”

This is possible by educating and training community-based doulas. Black birthing families supported by the Tulsa Birth Equity Initiative experience lower rates of pre-term births and low birth weight compared to those who aren’t.

The Black Wall Street Times interviewed OKBEI’s Executive Director Omare Jimmerson, Program Project Manager Shamika Antwine-Boone, and Community Engagement Specialist Megan Buyckes to discuss its community-based doula programming and events, birth justice, and the power of informed community support.

“I was working with the program called Strong Tomorrows, which serves expecting and parenting teens, and I learned about the community-based doula model and brought that to Tulsa to serve the teams that were part of a program, and it morphed into what you know today as the Oklahoma Birth Equity Initiative,” Jimmerson said.