The Learning House and Birth Center in Ghana

After sitting with the stories and the wisdom of women in Ghana, after several returns to Accra, Kumasi, and Cape Coast last year alone, I am in deep reflection and also charged to call for community in this moment. We are here learning, that’s why we are on the continent, discovering and connecting with our roots to strengthen the work of women’s sexual, reproductive and maternal health access in Ghana and throughout this nation. We are here to give back to home, to reach back into our communities, and to deliver the gifts our ancestors stored in our hearts and hands. We are in the spirit of abundance, and generosity, and also all of the courage that is needed to share, learn, and be present with ourselves and with those who came before us. Our ancestors have shown us that we need to stay here, be close to the work of community, and that we need to learn alongside our siblings, local activists, and movement organizers here in Ghana. A safe house and learning house is needed as the community has affirmed to us, the interventions for sexual health, maternal health, and reproductive health are needed.

The Problem 
Increasing access to midwifery care saves lives. Globally, over 287,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth related causes each year -- or about 800 women a day. Nearly 90% of these deaths are preventable.

During the Year of Return, many African Americans were returning to the African continent, and specifically Ghana, and it is in this moment, that we need to be thinking about all of our lives, across the Diaspora, as inextricably linked, as tied and connected to one another’s lives, and as generational legacies that are the most valuable part of who we are. It is in this moment that we have to think about the women, the needs of the women, the health and safety of all women. We were affirmed by our siblings here in Ghana, that the need for an intervention in reproductive health for survivors and their families is critical.

Help us maximize our impact while we are at home in Ghana, and give today.

Around the world, Black women are dying in childbirth. It is not just in childbirth, that the issues of sexual, reproductive, and maternal health arise – it is across the reproductive life course and life span that our very lives are on the line. We see it everywhere we look. The need is not only urgent but incredibly vast. Across the globe women are suffering in silence, darkness, and without proper interventions for their care. Women around the world are creating space, peace, safety, and a home for birth rights and healthy birthing.

How will your funds be used? Your contribution will directly support the Learning House and Birth Center from Brooklyn to Accra, Ghana which will foster ongoing sexual, reproductive, and maternal healthcare for women in Accra, Ghana. The Learning House and Birth Center will provide women with a full range of services, including: a 24/7 staff of Ghanaian midwives; maternal and infant life-saving skills trainings; cross-cultural midwifery trainings; childbirth education classes; counseling services; gynecological care; labor support; antenatal and postpartum follow-up care; newborn care; and breastfeeding support. Our goal is to reduce maternal and child mortality rates, and to support midwives in fostering the best care that they can provide. Survivors of all forms of gender violence will receive support services, full spectrum services, childbirth education and resources across the life-course continuum.

One brick at a time, we are building a house of hope and care from Brooklyn to Ghana.