Help Us Open Louisiana’s first Black-owned, gender-affirming birth center right here in Baton Rouge!

Currently, no birth centers in Baton Rouge cater to birthing people of African descent–honestly, for Black, Indigenous People of Color (BIPOC) folks in general. Furthermore, no birth centers in the state intentionally make their centers a welcoming space to birthing individuals and their families in a non-cisheteronormative environment that is trauma-informed, culturally responsive, accessible to differently-abled persons, and rooted in a gender-conscious, Pan-African tradition. In the Tradition of Our Ancestors (ITOA) Birth & Holistic Wellness Center aims to change that!

In owning and operating Baton Rouge's first Black-owned birth center, we will not only fill a gap and provide much needed and sought after Black birthing person-centered care, but we will also create an opportunity for community engagement and connection to ancestral practices. The birth center will also be the home of ITOA's holistic wellness services, in which holistic herbal remedies and spiritual technologies will complement the clinical medicine provided by midwives and non-clinical doula and lactation support staff.

The Ask

We are asking all in support of community-led and operated institutions and facilities to donate to our GoFundMe to help us make ITOA Birth & Holistic Wellness Center come to fruition. We need $165,000 to buy the property, renovate it, get it up to code, and officially open its doors to Baton Rouge and surrounding communities. Please help us show up for our Black birthing folks and their families!