We know you have opinions on how to improve birth.

That's why we've put you in charge.

The Foundation for the Advancement of Midwifery has evolved into a new type of foundation where our donors have a say in our grant making.

The Birth Trust promises change.

The midwifery movement has always had vision and passion, but lacked financial resources. The Birth Trust will enable more funding, strategy, and communication between activists and donors to increase our collective impact.

We hope you [ become a Birth Trustee ] and vote on the best projects to advance midwifery. FAM will present a grant docket covering each area of our mission: research, policy, public education, and reducing disparities/increasing access.

To ensure we have the best possible applications, FAM has created an Advisory Circle of luminary thinkers in each of these areas to guide us to the most critical needs in each area of our mission. This list includes such movement leaders as Ina May Gaskin, Ricki Lake, and Peggy O'Mara.

You can [ become a Birth Trustee ] with a minimum monthly contribution of $33 billed to your credit card for one year— about $1 a day. Birth Trustees are midwives, their consumers, doulas, lactation consultants, and childbirth educators and anyone else who knows we need to fix our birth culture. When we find 2,500 Birth Trustees, we will have $1,000,000 to grant.

As a midwife, trust in birth is my life's work. This is a meaningful way for me to pool my resources with those of an even larger team of donors. Having worked in clinics, hospitals, a birth center, and in the home, I know that midwife-led care is the solution in women's health.

—Angelita Nixon, CNM, MANA Board Secretary, Birth Trustee

2011 Finalists

Birth Trustees will vote on our 16 grant finalists from May 1 to May 15. Become a Birth Trustee by April 30 to be eligible to vote!

Our finalists include the following organizations: the MAMA Campaign, ICTC, MEAC, MANA, Choices in Childbirth, National Council of Aboriginal Midwives, Commonsense Childbirth, Midwives on the Move, the Midwives Alliance of West Virginia, Postpartum Support International of Washington State, Horizons of Friendship, the Luna Maya Birth Center, Mama Baby Haiti, the Homebirth Consensus Summit, and SUNY Potsdam. [ Download ] a summary of these grant projects.

Questions?

Download a copy of the [ Birth Trustee ] guidelines for 2010-2011 or [ email us ].