Most know Elaine Welteroth as an award-winning journalist, TV host, and author of the New York Times bestselling book “More Than Enough,” and the youngest editor-in-chief in Condè Nast’s history, at Teen Vogue, but she’s also a mother of two, activist, and advocate for fellow mothers. In April 2024, Welteroth launched birthFUND, a movement for maternal health that aims to expand access to safe and affirming birth care nationwide.
Welteroth started birthFUND, after her own harrowing and eye-opening personal encounters with the broken maternal health system, and a life-changing home birth experience with the midwives at Kindred Space LA, which led her to commit herself to raising awareness about the urgent need to create more access to midwifery care by sharing her story everywhere from TIME to the Today Show and relentlessly advocating for policy change, even meeting with key lawmakers in Washington, D.C.
birthFUND believes in improving birth outcomes for all, which can mean creating more accessible and equitable options for birthing parents and their families in the United States. Although midwifery might not be the right option for everyone, the organization believes that midwifery in the healthcare system provides a safe and alternative approach for birthing journeys. The World Health Organization says midwives could prevent up to 80% of maternal deaths globally.
Alongside founding funders such as Serena Williams, Kelly Rowland, and Karlie Kloss, and corporate partners like SoFi, Pampers, and BabyList, birthFUND has raised over $3 million for families seeking midwives, while raising awareness and challenging the way the United States approaches maternal healthcare. In its first year, birthFUND supported 54 families in partnership with Birth Center Equity and The Victoria Project—55 babies born to date through birthFUND’s support. We spoke to Welteroth and Allyson Felix about the mission of birthFUND and its expansion.
ESSENCE: Elaine, how do you feel about the birthFUND’s anniversary?
I can’t believe it’s been a year already. I guess time flies when you’re making babies (laughs). After hustling with my head down nonstop to build birthFUND — while building my family — I looked up at our anniversary event in NYC to a room filled with powerhouse women, including birth workers who showed up to support our mission — and I exhaled. Maybe for the first time in over a year. I could feel this baby I’ve been nurturing being held by the community it was built for. It felt like such a profound honor.
When I reflect on the last year, it’s felt a lot like giving birth. There have been plenty of sleepless nights but even more answered prayers. So many growing pains and triumphs that made it all so worth it. More than anything, I just feel grateful for the community that has rallied around our mission to help make unbelievable miracles possible for the families we serve.
This work has become a magnet for the brightest minds and the best souls who have come into our orbit to remind me of all the light that’s still left in this world. People like Allyson, whom I’ve long admired for how she’s used her platform to raise awareness about Black maternal health.
I never thought we would grow this quickly, but it’s a testament to the old adage: if you build it, they will come.
We show up to this ongoing conversation about maternal mortality with a fix-it spirit and a clear call to action that I think is hard to ignore in these times. Especially when so many people have been rendered helpless in many ways because of the downward spiral of the news cycle. They want to keep us distracted and depressed about the ways of the world. They want us to believe it isn’t even worth it to try to fix what’s broken. But they are wrong. This path we are all on is so deeply rewarding.
I am so proud of what we have accomplished through the community we’ve cultivated to support families when they need it more than ever.
Could you please share the progress you have made since the birthFUND’s inception?
What started as a fundraiser for my birthday, has become a scalable, community-centered movement. This is thanks in large part to the support of an incredible group of founding family funders like Serena Williams, John Legend, Chrissy Teigen, Kelly Rowland, Karlie Kloss, Ayesha Curry, Abby Phillip, and more. Through our core funding circle, we were able to cover the cost of midwifery care for 10 families in our pilot round. From there, our support quickly grew to extend to 54 families across the country by the end of the year. We are now funding midwives at 10 birth centers across the country, including Puerto Rico.
I took a break to have a baby of my own but we haven’t skipped a beat — we have welcomed 55 babies (and counting!) and are on track to deploy two more rounds of capital to families and midwives across our network in the next few months. In just under a year, we have raised over $3 million, from the support of individuals, corporate partners, and grants, including Gates Foundation — and now Pivotal Ventures thanks to backing from Allyson Felix’s fund, which will continue to fuel our mission.
Our impact is only as strong as the support we receive from our community. And I don’t take any level of support for granted during these times.
How is the birthFUND continuing to support maternal health, especially Black maternal health?
The statistics tell us Black women are dying at four times the rate of white women in America and half of American women describe their births as traumatic. When I reflect on my own struggle to find affirming care during my first pregnancy, and when I hear the stories from women like Allyson describing giving birth as one of the scariest days of their lives, I know that something has to change and we can’t afford to wait for someone else to fix what’s broken. We have to stop framing these alarming outcomes as forgone conclusions or just a Black woman’s problem — we need to shift the conversation to the importance of investing in actual solutions.
The U.S. is in a maternal health crisis. It is currently the most deadly place to give birth of all industrialized nations, and nearly half of moms experience birth trauma. That may be the norm but we can’t continue normalizing this. This is a devastating pattern we need to interrupt through intervention, advocacy, education, and access.
The World Health Organization estimates that up to 80% of all maternal and infant deaths could be prevented by incorporating trained midwives into pregnancy care. This is why I chose to focus birthFUND’s work around midwifery care. Working with a midwife was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. Incorporating midwives into our traditional care models is a simple solution that can have such a profound impact. By helping families receive midwifery care, we are giving families access to safe, and life-affirming care.
You have been leading the charge regarding advocating for midwifery care to be part of the birth experience. Share how Black women can benefit from having midwives by their side while giving birth.
Everyone’s birth experience is different, but I can share from my own experience, working with a midwife and having home births outside of the traditional medical system was one of the most empowering decisions I’ve ever made. At a vulnerable time when I was made to feel powerless by a system that wasn’t built for us, I made a choice that re-acquainted me with my own power as a woman. Rather than feeding off my fear, my midwives partnered with me to help me trust my body and my breath to do, in the comfort of my home, what women have been doing since the beginning of time. Rather than becoming a statistic, I defied them. My births have become the most sacred experiences of my life. A lack of financial resources should not stand in the way of having that option available to you.
While midwifery is not the best solution for everyone, we also know that unnecessary medical interventions are a root cause of medical emergencies that lead to birth trauma and even death. So, we all deserve to be informed about what our options are, especially when we are expected to give birth in a surging maternal mortality crisis. By expanding awareness around midwives and their life-saving impact, we can help lessen the stigma that prevents so many people from exploring this path to holistic, compassionate birth care.
Ensuring that families have the information and access to choose a care method that works best for them is a powerful step toward improving our outcomes.
Have you found any improvement regarding the Black Maternity Health Crisis over the past year?
The maternal health crisis persists. In the past year we’ve also seen the roll back of access to reproductive health care, and health care in general, which makes this issue more urgent than ever. It’s important that we continue to raise awareness of this crisis, and work to elevate solutions.
Through my work in this space, I am happy to say that in the last year I have continuously been inspired by the support I’ve seen for improving maternal care, and the conversations are getting louder. Raising awareness is the step to building momentum around solutions, and I feel inspired to know that’s happening. birthFUND is not alone in this work, we are joining a passionate and powerful community that has been working around the clock to address this issue for decades.
What’s next for the birthFUND?
We’re just getting started. I am really energized by all that there is to do. We will remain laser focused on expanding access to culturally concurrent midwifery while elevating and sustaining this life-saving model of birth care through disruptive storytelling because there are so many stigmas to shake, so much learning and unlearning to do around what it takes to bring life into this world safely — and joyfully. More and more we will find ways to sustain this pipeline of care that has so many system barriers working against it. We will continue bringing new voices and unexpected partners to this work as we will need to be creative about how we continue funding this mission.
Allyson’s gift marks the latest milestone, which we are so grateful for. I’m excited about all the lives this will impact and the generational healing that trickles down when babies are born safely to mothers who are treated with dignity and compassion.
ESSENCE: Allyson, how does it feel to be connected to birthFUND?
It’s an honor to be connected to birthFUND. As a mother, this work is deeply personal. I know firsthand how broken the maternal health system can be, especially for Black women. To be part of a network of families and changemakers who are actively working to make birth safer, more affirming, and more accessible—it’s incredibly meaningful. It’s not just about raising awareness; it’s about being part of a solution.
What are your personal challenges with the maternal health system?
My life-threatening experience with pre-eclampsia and giving birth at 32 weeks completely opened my eyes to the crisis we’re facing in maternal health in the U.S. Even with access, resources, and a strong support system, I still fell into the category of nearly losing my life during childbirth. That was a sobering realization—that no amount of privilege or preparation could shield me from the realities that so many women, especially Black women, face every day. It shouldn’t be this way, and it’s why this work matters so deeply to me.
What does birthFUND mean to you?
birthFUND is standing in the gap. It’s giving families access to something that should be a right, not a privilege—safe, patient-centered birth care. It’s about restoring trust in the birthing experience and investing in the health and dignity of families, especially those who have been historically overlooked. To me, it’s a movement rooted in care, equity, and action.
We know you received a large grant to help alleviate issues regarding Black maternal health. How have you been active in helping this crisis with the grant and beyond?
The grant has allowed us to support organizations doing powerful work—not just at a national level, but in communities where the need is urgent and resources are limited. We’ve been intentional about reaching grassroots organizations that are deeply embedded in the communities they serve. This work continues to be a passion of my heart, and I’m committed to using my platform to advocate, raise awareness, and be part of real, tangible solutions that improve outcomes for Black mothers and birthing people across the country.
