Honoring Juneteenth: A Doula’s Reflection on Black Maternal Care in Georgia Since 2021

As a doula living and working in Atlanta, I’ve had the deep privilege of supporting families from many different backgrounds—but many of the birthing people I serve are Black women. Today, as we honor Juneteenth, I want to reflect on the progress, challenges, and the work ahead in the fight for Black maternal health equity here in Georgia.

🌿 Since 2021: A Turning Point in Awareness

The past few years have seen growing public awareness around the Black maternal health crisis. In Georgia—where Black women are more than twice as likely to die from pregnancy-related causes as white women—this crisis has roots in systemic racism, generational trauma, and glaring gaps in care.

In 2021, efforts like the IMPROVE (Implementing a Maternal health and PRegnancy Outcomes Vision for Everyone) initiative began focusing on solutions through research and community engagement. It was a step forward, acknowledging what doulas, midwives, and Black families have long known: the system isn’t serving everyone equally.

💪 The Rise of Community-Centered Support

As a doula, I’ve seen firsthand how much difference compassionate, continuous support can make—especially when that support is culturally aware and community-rooted.

Since 2022, the visibility of Black doulas has grown, and there’s been a powerful expansion of doula programs, often led by Black women, that bring support to areas traditional healthcare has ignored. Whether through local partnerships, Medicaid-supported pilot programs, or employer-backed benefits like Walmart’s national doula coverage, families are finally gaining access to services that save lives and restore dignity to the birth process.

I have seen Black clients gain confidence, avoid unnecessary interventions, and advocate for themselves because they felt seen, heard, and supported.

🏛️ Policy Wins—and Challenges

Georgia made a significant move in 2023 by extending postpartum Medicaid coverage from 60 days to 12 months. This shift—something maternal health advocates had fought hard for—allows birthing people time to heal, access mental health care, and stabilize.

Still, there are real challenges. Georgia continues to face some of the highest maternal mortality rates in the nation. Rural hospitals are closing, the Maternal Mortality Review Committee has faced political pushback, and legislation to strengthen maternal protections often stalls.

This is why we can’t just work inside the birth room—we need to raise our voices outside of it, too.

🌸 What Juneteenth Means in Birth Work

Juneteenth is about freedom delayed—but ultimately claimed. As a non-Black doula, I hold space for what that freedom means in birth work:

• The right to bodily autonomy.

• The right to respectful, unbiased care.

• The right to survive childbirth—and to thrive in postpartum.

I see it in my clients’ courage, their advocacy, their ancestral strength. I see it in every effort to ensure that Black mothers in Georgia have access to informed choices, trauma-informed providers, and culturally relevant care.

🔥 Our Role as Allies in This Work

Supporting Black maternal health isn’t charity work—it’s justice work. It means I continue to:

• Refer clients to Black doulas, midwives, and OBs when requested.

• Educate myself on anti-racism and implicit bias in maternal health.

• Listen—deeply—and elevate Black voices and birth workers.

• Speak up in healthcare spaces, advocating for equity and accountability.

Juneteenth reminds us that freedom isn’t simply the absence of chains. It’s the presence of care, dignity, and safety—for every mother, every birth.

🖤 In continued learning and service, Christina, Doula, in Atlanta, GA

Christina Lundy is a certified birth & postpartum doula, certified childbirth educator, doula trainer, and agency owner. She’s located in East Atlanta and serves all of Metro Atlanta. She has 5 kiddos, whom she loves dearly. When she isn’t busy with a client or newer doula, you can find her outside in her garden, painting, or reading. Check out her instagram here.