Our History
In 2003 Meeka Centimano founded The Pregnancy and Postpartum Resource Coalition, a 501c3. The PPRC was dedicated to providing parents and professionals with the needed resources to improve families’ emotional well-being before and after a child’s birth. As a nonprofit, the PPRC created and led support groups, trained support group leaders, developed an active warmline for struggling parents, and provided countless resources for families struggling with postpartum mood disorders. The legacy of the PPRC is widely felt in Missouri and Kansas.
KC Women’s Ministry began in 2019 when a group of doulas met. They found a gap in care for low-income families and worked together to provide free or sliding-scale doula services to families in the Kansas City metro. Like Meeka, they saw a need in the community and became determined to be the solution. During the 2020 and 2021 Covid pandemic, KCWM worked with area nonprofits to build a model of care, providing birth and postpartum doula support at no cost to families on WIC and a thriving sliding scale option to help pay for services. In 2021, KCWM launched Mother’s Closet, a monthly park pop-up event available to anyone in the Kansas City area, where clothing and other necessities are available at no cost.
Today, the PPRC and KCWM have decided to join forces and become Birth It Forward. Our mutual goals of providing evidence-based care for families, preventing postpartum mood disorders, supporting the family’s well-being, and ensuring a safe pregnancy, birth, and postpartum, have made this merger an exciting reality. Together we will continue and expand a volunteer-run warmline, grow doula support services, educate birth professionals and support workers, and so much more. We look forward to a future where families nationwide have the support they need. Until then, we will work together to build a community where the pregnancy and postpartum period are safe and whole.
Our Mission
Birth It Forward’s Mission is to provide evidence-based support, education and advocacy to birth workers, families and the community through the pregnancy, birth and the postpartum periods. We unite birth workers with the mothers and families we serve in order to increase and influence positive maternal, family and birth worker outcomes to build a stronger community.
Our Vision
Birth it Forward’s Vision is to become a community that honors, respects, and connects identities, cultures, and traditions to provide all families a safe and dignified story.
Summary
Birth it Forward is a place where we foster respect, autonomy, and choice. A place to heal emotionally and generationally. A place to change lives. A place to be your authentic self and grow into who you want to be while being honest without repercussion. We create an environment where it is safe to learn and grow with joy and love.
Board Of Directors
President of the Board
- Melissa Jackson, BSN, RN, IBCLC
- Lee Voi, MSN, RN, APRN, CNM
- Shelley Knight, CBE, PPD, SBD
- Lorna Rodgers
Administration
Executive Director
Associate Director
Associate Director
Associate Director
Associate Director