About us
Our Birth Story
In the spring of 2016, a group of doulas, midwives, midwives in training, childbirth educators and passionate birth advocates met in the living room of one their homes to talk about how we could better serve our community by building a network of professionals in pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. From that seed grew the launch of our first annual Labor Day Event in September 2016. The immediate need, the one we still serve, is creating a space for the island community to access resources and professionals to help them through the journey of pregnancy, birth and post-partum. Our other main goal is to provide networking & educational opportunities to the professionals providing services to the community.
Pacific Birth Collective secured a 501(c)(3) status in 2021. During the Maui wildfire crisis of August 2023, PBC jumped into action to support the most vulnerable of the fire-affected: mothers and babies. Since then, our programs and staff have grown significantly to meet the various needs of our community. We operate out of Haiku and are continually evolving.
Our Mission
Our mission is expanding birth and wellness choices through education, support and advocacy for families and practitioners across Hawai’i
Our Vision
Our vision is a thriving community where all families & practitioners have access to care that honors diverse pathways and choices supporting their wellbeing.
Statement of Equity
The Pacific Birth Collective stands for equity and justice in denouncing racism, intolerance, and exclusion.
Yet taking a stand isn’t enough. This statement is our formal commitment to improving our culture, practices, and professional relationships with parents, birthing people, and professionals on the directory to uphold diversity, equity, and inclusion in our organization.
-
We recognize and hold ourselves accountable to our organizational positions of power and privilege.
-
We acknowledge the injustices and inequities created by colonization and systemic discrimination in Hawai‘i.
-
We commit to being receptive to constructive criticism, self-reflection, and education to apply the principles of diversity, equity, and inclusion in our collective culture, policies, and practices.
-
We commit to elevating diverse perspectives and fostering an inclusive environment.
-
We commit to ongoing listening, learning, conversations, and action around supporting diverse birth workers and families and BIPOC people in our community.
-
We commit to working to be a safe place for kanaka birth workers and families, BIPOC women, and the LGBTQ+ community, and commit to being inclusive on the basis of race, sex, gender, age, and ability.
-
We stand as advocates for reproductive autonomy and support every woman's right to make informed decisions about her body, her health, and her future, including access to reproductive care and family planning resources.
Reproductive justice and health remain intertwined with the issues of race. Violence against BIPOC people includes the glaring health disparities in BIPOC communities, in particular around childbearing. We believe it is absolutely the business of the birth community to get involved and stay involved with activism to call attention to systemic injustice, from the birth room to the legislature. As an organization, PBC is receptive to feedback, open to dialogue, committed to self-reflection, and continually reflecting on how to be more inclusive. As a part of this commitment, we have created an information page on our website geared toward those who are new to Hawai'i: Lay of the Land.