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Our Mission
Our Mission
Community After Birth is dedicated to providing
support services, education, and advocacy for the
expansion of postpartum care.
Our Programs
Our Programs
In-home Doula Care & Postpartum Support
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 care and postpartum home visits to those unable to access this essential care.
Learn more about doula care on the Doula Services page.
Community Circles & Support Groups
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
Community Resources
Parents need other parents.
We bring experts and community members together to share helpful resources that support families after birth.
Our Movement
Our Movement
We want this type of care, community, and support to become the norm in our culture.
That means grassroots advocacy work.
Current Advocacy Efforts include:
In-home Support for Military Families: Expecting and postpartum military families are at times uniquely isolated from support networks, with some expecting and/or parenting for large amounts of time on their own. Community After Birth seeks funds to provide postpartum doula and support services to these families.
Postpartum Doula Support for Mental Health: 1 in 5 parents are impacted by perinatal mental health conditions, making it the #1 complication of childbirth. Community After Birth seeks funds to provide postpartum 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 and birth workers who serve them. Learn more about this at one of our partner organizations, Doula Alliance of Maryland.
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 legislation is essential to improve postpartum healing, lactation, and overall family wellbeing.
Meet Our Board of Directors
Meet Our Board of Directors
Lauren Thompson, MHS
Lauren Thompson is 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.
Shannon Abdelghani
Shannon Abdelghani is a 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.
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.
Elyse Lasser, DrPH, MS
Dr. Elyse Lasser is an Assistant Research Professor and the center coordinator for the Center for Population Health IT housed within the Department of Health Policy Management at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She received her BA in Biology from Smith College in 2006 and a Master’s of Science in Applied Health Informatics from Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in 2010. Dr. Lasser successfully defended her DrPH in September 2021, where she explored the use and documentation of Social and Behavioral data in electronic health records and insurance claims. She is the Director of the Public Health Informatics Certificate and a co-faculty to the MSPH program in Health Policy.
Her research focuses on exploring the impact of social, behavioral, and lifestyle information captured in electronic data sources on health outcomes and improving health equity across populations.
Citations
Citations
[1] Hoyert DL. Maternal mortality rates in the United States, 2021. NCHS Health E-Stats. 2023.
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