Louisiana Has Its' First Black-Owned Birth Center

Sunday Inspiration: Every Sunday, Meet the Visionaries who are inspiring our community.

Meet Shatamia Webb 

Why does the richest country in the world also have one of the highest maternal and infant death rate? And why are African American women and children's mortality rate the highest. Today we have a new generation of healthcare workers who are trying to address this problem. 

In Louisiana, Shatamia Webb, a midwife is providing mothers with a safe haven. As she says in a KATC News interview that one of her biggest fears, when it came time for her to give birth, was arriving at the hospital and not being able to come home so she decided to have both of her children at home.

Now, she’s on a mission to help all future parents not only feel more confident when it comes to delivering their bundle of joy but informed about the options they have when it comes time to do so. As a midwife, Webb has conducted home births for the last four years. She and her staff believe, it’s all about mothers knowing “what to expect going in at every stage of the journey.” Recently she announced that in late July she will be opening the Baby Catcher Birth Center in Lafayette, which will become the first Black-owned freestanding birth center in Louisiana. 

The CDC reports that Black women are three times more likely to die during childbirth, and Webb is committed to changing this narrative with the Baby Catcher Birth Center. Staff at the center will provide insights for mothers on topics that include breastfeeding education, nutrition, labor support, and more. Plus, she says that mothers will be seen throughout their whole pregnancy along with check-ins during prenatal and postpartum periods. Benefits of the center will also include more individualized care along with a different approach when it comes to giving birth.

Webb also adds that mothers will be able to have as many people as they want with them during the time of delivery and the center will have two suites for two families. The center is located near Lafayette General Hospital just in case there are any complications.

“This is what I love,” said Webb in her interview “I couldn’t see myself doing anything else.”  For more information  or to support her project check her facebook.