About
Our Mission
Community After Birth is dedicated to providing support services, education & advocacy for the expansion of postpartum care.
Our Programs
In-home Doula Care & Postpartum Support
Postpartum care is virtually non-existent in the formalized United States healthcare system. Our organization aims to bring postpartum doula care and in-home visits to as many families as possible.
Fundraising and grants are used to provide doula services on a sliding scale based on income and insurance coverage. Our goals are to access funding that will allow as many families and individuals as possible to access doula care at no cost to them.
Learn more about doula care on the Doula Services page.
Community Circles & Support Groups
The postpartum months can be isolating. Our community circles and support groups offer virtual and in-person connection to others in our community who can relate, offer solutions, and support you during this tender time.
Community Resources
Parents need other parents.
We bring experts and community members together to share helpful resources that support families after birth.
Our Movement
We want this type of care, community and support to build and sustain through time.
That means grassroots advocacy work.
Current Advocacy Efforts include:
Postpartum Support for Military Families: Expecting and postpartum military families are at times uniquely isolated from support networks, with some parenting for large amounts of time on their own. Community After Birth seeks funds to provide doula and support services to these families.
Maryland Medicaid Doula Program: Expanding doula care to individuals and families who utilize Medicaid benefits, as well as improving conditions and pay for the doulas who serve them.
Doula Alliance of Maryland: An information sharing listserv for doulas working across the state.
Maternal Mortality in the Postpartum: Mothers and birthing people continue to die at alarming rates in the United States. 52% of the deaths occur after birth, with 30% of those occurring 6-weeks after birth and beyond. [1] Doula and community support reduce the risk for these maternal deaths..
Paid Family Leave: The United States remains the only developed nation without paid family leave following birth. This foundational legislation is needed to improve postpartum healing, lactation, and overall family wellbeing.
Meet Our Board of Directors
President | Lauren Thompson, MHS
Lauren Thompson is a co-founder of Community After Birth, postpartum doula, and mother of 3. She graduated from Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health in 2023 where her research focused on perinatal mood and anxiety disorders, lactation, and community models of care. She came to this work after a difficult postpartum period with her first born where she experienced depression, anxiety and lactation issues. She realized the healthcare and community gaps she felt were a reality for many.
Lauren also co-founded the Doula Alliance of Maryland and co-chairs Postpartum Support International's Maryland chapter.
Treasurer | Shannon Abdelghani
Shannon Abdelghani is a co-founder of Community After Birth, military spouse, and mother of 2. Shannon's own struggles with postpartum depression and lactation issues following the birth of her son lead her to advocate for other new moms. Her experience as a military spouse moving to new communities without a built-in support network deeply informs the work Community After Birth does in the military community.
Secretary | Miriam Rieger, CNM
Miriam Rieger is a Certified Nurse Midwife who has worked with women in both the hospital and home setting in the DMV region. A mother of 3, Miriam has provided care to thousands of women over the last 17 years as a labor and delivery nurse and midwife. She has long championed the importance of postpartum care and feels strongly about the necessity to increase services available to women across the lifespan. Miriam is thrilled to be a part of the founding board of directors in initiating and expanding upon this work.
Featured Press
Addressing The Breastfeeding Challenge and How Mothers Can Overcome - Lauren is quoted
Citations
[1] Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2021. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2023.