Our Mission:
Elevatingcommunity-led
Birth Justice in Illinois
Illinois Community-Based Birth Justice State Strategic Plan
Our Mission:
Elevatingcommunity-ledBirth Justice in Illinois
Illinois Community-Based Birth Justice State Strategic Plan
our
Collective Vision
Everyone in Illinois has access to the high-quality, holistic care they need to have safe, positive perinatal and reproductive experiences with the support and setting of their choice. Those providing care can access the training and resources necessary to thrive, strengthened by public and institutional policies that facilitate their success and sustainability.
community-led movement
Community-based birth resources and supports improve health outcomes for birthing people, reduce barriers to care, and lower healthcare costs, particularly for communities that have higher rates of pregnancy-related death or severe injury. This Community-Based Birth Justice Strategic Plan is a result of extensive collaboration with community-based birth workers across Illinois, and centers their voices, experiences, and priorities. The practical, effective strategies outlined in this plan will increase the capacity, visibility, integration, and sustainability of community-based birth resources and supports, ensuring that every birthing person in Illinois has access to what they need to have a safe, supported perinatal experience.
Illinois has a variety of plans and reports aimed at reducing perinatal morbidity and mortality. This plan is unique in that it is the only state strategic plan developed by community-based perinatal and birth workers.
ourvalues
Justice-centered
We place birth justice within the larger human rights framework including reproductive, social, economic, racial, and environmental justices
Collaboration & Coordination
We build inclusive coalitions that put the right people in the right seats to advance our collective work effectively and efficiently
Compassion
We love and care for ourselves and one another, understanding that we cannot pour from empty cups
Power With
We center and involve those most impacted, building power with our communities, not power over them
Historically minded, future-oriented
We draw inspiration from our ancestors, archive and amplify our life’s work, and imagine and actualize bold dreams for future generations
ourpriorities
Racism & Structural Violence
Address and interrupt racism and structural violence in all efforts.
Workforce
Create, grow, and support the workforce to meet worker and community needs.
Infrastructure
Create and redesign the infrastructure needed to support birth justice.
Persons’ Experience
Shift the culture around birth to center birthing people's experiences.
Funding Sustainability
Unlock sustainable, thriving, and strategic funding sources.
projectphases
Winter 2024
community
surveys
Better understand the diverse experiences of community-based birth workers and inform the development of the summit.
September 2025
provider
summit
Convene community-based birth workers to create a shared vision and joint action plan for advancing perinatal health and birth justice in Illinois.
February 2026
strategic
plan
Use summit findings and expert work groups to create a community-based birth justice strategic plan and implementation map for Illinois.
2026-2029
plan
Implementation
Set timelines, form teams, prioritize and allocate tasks, set target measures and implement key activities for each goal.
The State Strategic Plan focuses on community-based workers in the following sectors:
- Abortion / Reproductive Health Services
- Birth Center Services
- Midwifery Care
- Community Health Workers
- Doula Care
- Home Birth Services
- Home Visiting
- Lactation Support
- Medicaid Services
- Mental Health Services
- Migrant Health
- Support of people who use substances
community-based care
defined.
Relationship-based, equity-centered care or support that is delivered in community settings to underserved and unjustly served communities. For the purpose of this project, being community-based means refers to workers who spend 50% or more of their time providing perinatal care or support in an independent practice or at a behavioral health care center, birth center, community-based organization, community health center, federally qualified health center, or local health department.
Key Terms & Definitions
Birth Justice
Birth justice is part of the broader reproductive justice movement and includes access to holistic, humanistic, culturally centered health care during the perinatal period. Birth justice includes the right to choose whether or not to carry a pregnancy; the right to choose when, where, how, and with whom to birth, including access to traditional and indigenous healers, such as midwives and other birth workers; and the right to breastfeeding support. Jamarah Amani, Executive Director of Southern Birth Justice Network, is the architect of the Birth Justice Bill of Rights that inspired this definition.
Community-Based
Relationship-based, equity-centered perinatal support or care for unjustly served communities that occurs outside of health and hospital systems.
Including:
- Behavioral health centers: facilities providing comprehensive care for mental health, substance use, and developmental issues
- Birth centers: licensed, home-like facilities for healthy, low-risk perinatal care, offering a midwifery-focused model of care
- Community-based organizations (CBOs): organizations representing and serving a specific local community to address its unique needs by offering direct services like health, education, or social support
- Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs): federally funded community-based health centers that provide free or low-cost comprehensive health services in underserved urban and rural areas
- Independent practices: provider-run businesses that operate separately from other organizations or health systems
- Individuals’ homes: the designated home of the birthing person
- Local health departments (LHDs): government agencies at the county or city level that protect and promote community health through programs, education, and other services
Community-based
birth justice workers
Individuals who support birthing people throughout the perinatal period in community settings, including but not limited to the following roles:
Including:
- Abortion care/reproductive health providers: professionals who offer medication and procedural abortions, along with other reproductive health care, including contraception and STI treatment
- Behavioral health specialists/social workers: professionals who help people manage mental health, emotional struggles, addiction challenges, and other issues
- Certified nurse midwives (CNMs): nurses with specialized graduate training in nursing and midwifery who can act as the primary provider for birthing people throughout the perinatal period in hospitals, birth centers, or homes
- Certified professional midwives (CPMs): trained independent perinatal care providers specializing in community-based care for low-risk pregnancies, providing perinatal care and delivery services at homes and birth centers
- Community health workers (CHWs): trusted, frontline public health professionals who act as a bridge between communities and health/social services, providing culturally relevant education, outreach, support, and advocacy
- Doulas: professionals who provide emotional, mental, and physical support to the birthing person and their partner throughout the perinatal period
- Home visitors: professionals who visit families, often expecting parents or those with young children, in their homes to provide support, education, and resources
- Lactation consultants: professionals with specialized training in breast/chestfeeding, offering education and clinical support to help parents have successful breast/chestfeeding journeys
- Peer support specialists: professionals with personal lived experience of mental health or substance use challenges who mentor, guide, and support others on their recovery journey
Perinatal
The time period from when somebody becomes pregnant to a year after giving birth
Racial concordance / racially concordant care
When a health provider shares the same racial and/or ethnic identity as their patient, which is associated with improved health outcomes
*A note on gendered language: while we use gender-neutral language to describe birthing people wherever possible, we use gendered terms (i.e., women, maternal) when referencing research that utilizes those terms.
Shared Vision. Joint Action.
Thank you to our funder
The views expressed here do not necessarily reflect the views of the Foundation.